When his friends attempt to take him to a hospital, Hassan commits suicide.Gaav was banned for over a year by the Ministry of Culture and Arts, despite being one of the first two film in Iran to receive government funding. This was most likely due to Sa’edi being a controversial figure in Homeland. His work was highly critical of the Pahlavi government, and he had been arrested sixteen times.
When it was finally released in 1970, it was highly praised and won an award at the Ministry of Culture’s film festival, but it was still denied an export permit. In 1971, the film was smuggled out of Homeland and submitted to the Venice Film Festival where, without programming or subtitles, it became the largest event of that year’s festival.
