Thank you for being here today. Some of you will remember me from the wedding 3,5 years ago. It was such a privilege to serve as the best man at what I remember to be one of the most meaningful celebrations I’ve been to, particularly because of the just overwhelming amount of love flying around. Of course I got to hold a speech, which I have been re-reading several times these past weeks, and I would like to - if you’ll allow me - read to you just a few lines of what I said that day.

“We’ve had an incredible friendship and partnership. We worked on some amazing films together, we travelled to a lot of countries. We laughed and cried. We drank beer and smoked and danced. We were in the business of dreams - our own dreams primarily - and were facing them head on. It was a thrilling time in my life in which I learned endlessly and every day. Still today, when I’m shooting somewhere in the world or talking to an editor or producer, I often hear myself say things that were in reality Omid’s words.”

I think I fell short in that speech. True, we had a good time. We learned a lot from each other. But it wasn’t just that. It was so much more than that. Exactly because it wasn’t all parties and fun. Omid was extremely demanding in his work too. And the expectations he had of himself, he also had of you. Sometimes that was problematic, because he was extremely gifted in everything he did. He had so much talent that it scared me sometimes, simply because I couldn’t live up to it. And every so often - very rarely -that became challenging and we’d fight, often about really stupid and small details. Just silly things and he’d always win, I have to say. He always got his way… But whatever way the challenge or the conflict went, the unique thing with Omid was that our friendship was never ever at stake. He was by far one of the most loyal people I have known. And you know, forget about all the filmmaking crap and our ambitions and our dreams and being demanding with each other. I learned a lot more important things from Omid. I learned about being generous to other people, about being supportive, about connecting people, about respect, and about how to be the bright spot in the room. He was not only gifted creatively, but even more so as a human being.

I’ll just give you a short example. Omid knew a little bit of Dutch. Just a few phrases. And he’d always remind me when we saw each other. Do you think he learned them from me? No. Right around the time we finished film school, over 20 years ago, I had scored a video assignment for a charity in Holland that provided housing and care to mentally handicapped children. One of them was a young girl, maybe ten years old, who was - in a way - blessed with something called the Happy-go-lucky Syndrome. This is a serious and complex condition, but on the outside it meant that she was smiling and happy 24 hours a day. Omid had come along to be the sound person for that shoot and the two instantly connected. It was from her that he learned his Dutch phrases. He would just go on and on with her. Their interaction, the fun, the attention… it is burnt in my memory. And just confirmed his status as a first class, five star human being.

It’s hard now, very hard, but I am going to try to focus on his presence in my life more than on his absence. I will miss him tremendously but I will carry his legacy with me. And I will continue to strive to be a person that is generous, supportive, respectful, and the bright spot in the room - in Omid’s memory and honour. For everything that he has meant to me and to so many of us.

Pooran and Hoshyar, thank you for putting such an incredible human being on this world and sharing him with all of us. It was too short, no doubt, but it was worth every second. Like Lucy said to me so eloquently a few weeks back: we were lucky, because he was ours.

Lucy, I am here for you. We all are, I’m sure. Besides the incredible family you already have, you have now officially inherited a colourful bunch of grieving but dedicated amazing friends who you can call on anytime. Any time. For anything. But I think you know that.

And Ava, I promise to you that you will know your father through me. In time, when you are ready, I will share hundreds of stories with you that will make you proud. So that you can carry on the legacy of what it’s like to be a first class, five star human being.

Omid, 1-2-3 let’s rock!