Unlike the character in the film, Mehran Karimi Naseri was not limited by the walls of the airport, he had a residence permit in France. Fleeing the regime in Tehran, he tried to obtain political asylum in 6 countries.
Iranian political refugee Mehran Karimi Naseri, who inspired director Steven Spielberg to create the film ‘Terminal’, died at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Speaking of which writes French newspaper Le Monde.
Nasseri passed away on November 12 at noon of natural causes in Terminal 2F, where he had lived for the past few weeks.
The unique story of The Terminal by an Iranian-inspired American director Steven Spielberg, starring Tom Hanks.
Unlike the hero of the film, Victor Navorsky, Karimi Naseri had the status of a refugee with a residence permit in France. The man could easily leave the airport. The Iranian didn’t need the money: he received royalties thanks to Spielberg’s film.
After the film’s release, Naseri lived in a hostel in Paris. After spending the money he received from the film, he went back to the airport for a few weeks. Several thousand euros were found with him, the source said.
The life story of Iranian refugee Mehran Karimi Naseri
French media write that Mehran Karimi Naseri was born in 1945 in the Iranian city of Masjed-Soleiman.
He began traveling in 1974, traveling to London in search of his biological mother. After his father’s death, relatives said his birth mother was a Swedish nurse who worked for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
In London, Nasseri began studying economics. He participated in protests against the Iranian authorities, for which he was stripped of his citizenship. Then 4 years – from 1977 to 1981, he tried to get political asylum in 6 countries.
The first refugee status was granted to him in Belgium, where he worked for 6 years in the library. Since August 26, 1988, he has lived in Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport and worked odd jobs around the airport.
His lawyer in 1999 obtained a residence permit for Karimi Naseri in France. The Iranian lived at the airport until 2006, was hospitalized and taken out of the terminal.
«I’m not sure what I want to do, stay in Roissy (a town in France – ed) or leave. I have the documents, I can stay here. I think we need to carefully study all the options before making a decision,” the man commented on obtaining the right to live in France.
Mehran Karimi Naseri’s story was the basis for the 1993 films Fallen from the Sky directed by Philippe Liore and The Terminal. Naseri was paid $250,000 in royalties and published an autobiography.
Focus previously written about Iranian refugee Behruza Buchaniwhich received the Victorian Prize for Literature.
The man wrote the book No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison (“There are no friends but the mountains: notes from Manus prison”) in the WhatsApp messenger. He received £55,000 for his work.
All Quiet on the Western Front from Netflix. The invaders steal the geese and die ingloriously in the mud
