Soon after the success of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Avini joined the Construction Jihad founded by Imam Khomeini dedicated to poverty alleviation in rural Iran. Witnessing first hand the cruelty and injustice left in the villages by the recently overthrown Pahlavi monarchist dictatorship, he set out to produce documentaries sharing those neglected realities. After the US-backed invasion of Iran by Saddam Hussein, Avini developed a series of cinematographic productions throughout the 8 years of the Imposed War.
He died in 1993 after joining search parties identifying the bodies of the martyrs of the war while also producing the "Narration of Victory" documentary, when he was hit by the shrapnel of a landmine.