Zero Degree Turn

Zero Degree Turn مدار صفر درجه
Shahab Hosseini in Madare sefr darajeh
Created by	Hassan Fathi
Starring	Shahab Hosseini Nathalie Matti Roya Teymourian Masoud Rayegan Pierre Dagher Laya Zanganeh Iraj Rad Ateneh Faghih Nasiri Payam Dehkordi Rahim Noroozi Farrokh Nemati Esmail Shangaleh Fadi Edward Hasmiq Taschgian Ahmad Saatchian Ali Ghorban Zadeh Kiumars Malekmotei Gyula Mesterházy Álmos Szalay
Music by	Alireza Ghorbani
Ending theme	When I Fell in Love (Vaghti Ke Man Ashegh Shodam)
Country of origin	Iran  Hungary  France  Lebanon
Original language(s)	Persian French German
No. of episodes	30
Production
Executive producer(s)	Hassan Beshkoufeh
Cinematography	Morteza Poursamadi
Running time	Each episode approximately 50 minutes
Release
Original network	Channel 1 (Iran)
Original release	April 23, 2007 – November, 2007
External links
Website

Zero Degree Turn or Zero Degree Latitude (Persian: مدار صفر درجه‎ Madâr-e sefr darajeh) is a 2007 television series, made through the cooperation of Iran, Hungary, France, and Lebanon. The program was one of the most expensive and elaborate ever produced by Iran and attracted a large audience there. It is inspired by a real-life story about Iranian diplomat Abdol Hossein Sardari, who saved Jews in 1940s Paris during the Nazi Occupation by giving out Iranian passports and allowing them refuge in the Iranian Embassy. Although it has been noted that neither character names nor the story are close to Sardari's story.

Set in the time of the Second World War, Madare Sefr Darajeh follows the life of an Iranian student named Habib Parsa (Shahab Hosseini) who travels to Paris to study. There Habib meets a French Jewish woman named Sara Astrok, a student at the same university. At first antagonistic toward one another, Habib and Sarah eventually fall in love. They run into many problems, including persecution by the Nazis and by Sarah's Zionist uncle, but are united in the end.

The government financed film has been widely cited as an effort by the government to demonstrate its positions in regards to the difference between Jews and Zionists, encompassing sympathy for the Jewish people (including an orthodox view of the Holocaust) while remaining hostile to Zionism.

The director of the series, Hassan Fathi, said about it, "I decided to produce this series in 2002, and in those days the Holocaust was not an issue. Even if one single Jew is killed in German camps, the world should be ashamed. By the same token, if a single Palestinian dies, the world should be ashamed. I sympathize with the Jewish victims of World War II, to the same extent with women and children victims of the war in Palestine."