Iranian photojournalist wins award at Japanese contest

March 15, 2015, 2:10 pm

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TEHRAN – Iranian photojournalist Abdollah Heidari has received the special jury prize at the 11th Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards 2015.

 

He was honored for his collection entitled “Children with No Identity”, which contains photos of children without a birth certificate and identity, as the result of the unauthorized marriages of Afghan men with Iranian women.

 

Millions of Afghan people have immigrated to Iran due to war and poverty during the past 35 years.

 

More than 4000 works were submitted from 47 countries and the award-winning photographs will be exhibited all over Japan, the organizers announced on the website last week.

 

Heidari works for the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency.

 

Days Japan is a monthly magazine, which centers on photojournalism and publishes the documentary photos that best support the campaign to protect human life and the natural environment.

 

RM/YAW

END

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Tehran Choir wins second prize at Dubai festival

March 15, 2015, 2:17 pm

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TEHRAN -- The Tehran Choir has won the second prize at the ChoirFest Middle East in Dubai, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Sunday.

 

The group performed “’S Wonderful”, a popular song by American composer George Gershwin, “O Believed” by Iranian musician Ahmad Pejman and “Agnus Dei” (“Lamb of God”) by American composer Samuel Barber at the festival.

 

Established by conductor Mehdi Qasemi in 1999, the Tehran Choir is one of the most notable and active choirs in Iran. 

 

The Tehran Choir has performed dozens of concerts. It also has collaborated in recording sessions with famous contemporary Iranian composers such as Ahmad Pejman.

 

The Tehran Choir completed the recording of its debut album earlier this winter. The album, which consists of original choral compositions of 9 contemporary Iranian composers, is scheduled to be released in summer 2015.

 

Kabul Choir from Afghanistan, the Dubai Duty Free Nightingales, Ensemble Vivace from Lebanon, Sand of Music from Abu Dhabi, and The Notables from Dubai were also honored at the festival, which was held from March 10 to 14.

 

Many groups from the Middle East participated in the festival and numerous educational workshops were organized at the event.

 

MMS/YAW

END

 

Iran box office revenues soar

March 15, 2015, 2:20 pm

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TEHRAN – Iran’s cinema has earned about 600 billion rials (about $19 million) in ticket sales during the Iranian calendar year 1393 (March 21, 2014 - 2015), with 100 percent growth compared to the previous year.

 

“The year 1393 was good for Iran’s cinema. It enjoyed a huge box office success, though there was no increase in the ticket price,” film producer Ali Sartipi told the Persian service of ISNA on Sunday.

 

‘“The City of Mice 2” played a significant role in the high number of ticket sale with 120b rials (about $4m),” Sartipi said, adding that the establishment of Kurosh Complex (in the western district of Tehran in late July) was a great help.

 

“The City of Mice 2” is a sequel to the popular 1984 puppet show movie. The film takes the audience into the adventures of little mice who decide to take care of a defenseless kitty, an act that leads to turmoil in the city.

 

Sartipi further continued that several other films were Iran’s box office hits such as “Red Carpet” by director Reza Attaran, a film about fringe issues at the Cannes Film Festival 2013.

 

“During the past decade, theaters in other cities sold less compared to Tehran, however they equaled Tehran this year,” he stated.

 

He said that digitizing the theaters was a great help too, adding, “Although there are 300 halls across the country, 60 percent of sales came from six theaters: Azadi, Kurosh, Zendegi and Mellat in Tehran; Hoveizeh in Mashhad; and Saviz in Karaj.”

 

He proposed that it would be better if the budget of cinema were allocated to establishing high quality theaters.

 

Sartipi said that he anticipates the films Abolhassan Davudi’s “Crazy Face”, Alireza Raisian’s romance drama “The Love Age” and Masud Jafari-Jozani’s comedy “Iranburger” will be among the Iranian box office hits next year.

 

RM/YAW

END

Art news in brief

March 16, 2015, 12:15 pm

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Shams Ensemble to give concert in Paris 

TEHRAN – Shams Ensemble led by Iranian tanbur virtuoso Keikhosro Purnazeri will perform a concert at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris on April 13.  

 

The ensemble is composed of vocalist Sohrab Purnazeri, tar virtuoso Tahmures Purnazeri, daf player Hossein Rezainia and tanbur player Khorshid Dadbeh.

 

 

Persian version of “Thank You for This Moment” republished

TEHRAN – A Persian version of “Thank You for This Moment”, the controversial book of Valérie Trierweiler, the former partner of French President François Hollande, has recently been republished four months after the release of its first edition. 

 

The book, which originally came out in September 2014, details her relationship with Hollande and their breakup.

 

It was rendered into Persian by Abolfazl Allahdadi, who previously translated Mahtab Bolouki’s “Jean Genet et l’architecture du vide”.

 

The Persian version was published by the Tehran-based publishing house Behnegar.

 

 

Georges Simenon’s “The Misty Harbor” hits Iranian bookstores

TEHRAN -- A Persian translation of “The Misty Harbor” by the 20th-century Belgian author Georges Simenon has been published by Jahan Publications.  

 

The book translated into Persian by Abbas Agahi details the story of a distressed man who is found wandering the streets of Paris, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. 

 

The answers lead Inspector Maigret, the novel’s leading character, to a small harbor town, whose quiet citizens conceal poisonous malice.

 

 

Niccolò Ammaniti’s “Me and You” appears in Persian

TEHRAN – Best-selling Italian author Niccolò Ammaniti’s “Me and You” has recently been published in Persian.

 

In “Me and You”, Ammaniti eschews the violence and black humor of his recent books and recovers the subtlety and restraint he brought to his best-known novel, “I’m Not Scared”.

 

Translated from Italian into Persian by Foruq Haratian, the book was published by Dastan in Tehran. 

 

MA/YAW

END

“Borderless” wins jury award at Sofia filmfest

March 16, 2015, 12:25 pm

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TEHRAN – Iranian filmmaker Amir-Hossein Asgari’s movie “Borderless” won the Young Jury Award at the 19th Sofia International Film Festival, which was held in Bulgaria from March 5 to 15.

 

Bulgarian actor Nicola Stoyanov presided over the jury, which selected the film from the entries in the international section.

 

“Borderless” features the story of a schoolboy who always fishes from a grounded ship in the border zone. It is his place of seclusion and serenity and where he earns a livelihood as an angler. But his peace and tranquility are disturbed when a stranger appears.

 

The festival is organized annually by several Bulgarian institutions, including the Sofia Municipality, the Ministry of Culture, the National Palace of Culture, the National Film Center and Bulgarian National Television.

 

MA/YAW

END

 

 

Iranian artists concerned about future of Mazichal Forest

March 16, 2015, 12:28 pm

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TEHRAN – A number of 130 Iranian artists are concerned about the future of Mazichal Forest in the northern region of the country, and have asked President Hassan Rouhani to help preserve it.

 

The forest, which is located near the town of Kelardasht in Mazandaran Province, is said to be part of the oldest forest in the history of world, but the beautiful landscape and the rural area have been invaded by the recent construction of roads and villas.

 

“We are concerned about this national treasure, and this apprehension has also been heard in the recent statements by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei who has called the protection of the environment a ‘national’ concern,” reads part of the letter written to the President. 

 

“As a group of art and cultural figures of Iran, we ask you to be with us and pronounce Mazichal a ‘virgin land’ and take the final step to fight against the commercial profit-seekers. Saving this forest is saving a national treasure, which breathes and gives life to us with its breath,” the authors of the letter write.

 

Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Mahnaz Afshar, Saber Abar, Rambod Javan, Hamed Behdad, Kiumars Purahmad, Hanieh Tavassoli, Roya Teimurian, Bahram Radan and Masud Rayegan are among the artists who have signed the letter.

 

RM/YAW

END

 

 

Works by Iranian illustrators to compete in Bratislava biennial

March 16, 2015, 12:29 pm

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TEHRAN – Fifteen works by Iranian illustrators were selected to compete in the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava (BIB) in Slovakia in 2015.

 

The works will be sent by Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) to the biennial, IIDCYA announced on Monday.

 

Peyman Rahimizadeh’s “Zahhak” and “Mannequin”, Atefeh Malekiju’s “Fearful Phantom”, and Mitra Abdollahi’s “First King of the World” and “Untamed Horses” are among the selected works.

 

“Rustam and Esfandiar” illustrated by Pejman Rahimizadeh, “A Heart Larger than the World” by Mahkameh Shabani and “A Man for Peace” by Nushin Safakhu are also included.

 

A jury composed of writer Zohreh Qaini, illustrators Farshid Mesqali and Ali-Akbar Sadeqi, and graphic designer Kurosh Parsanejad chose the participating works from the 140 submitted last week.

 

The BIB international jury awards One Grand Prix—a financial grant of $3,000—as the highest award of the BIB, and also five Golden Apples BIB worth $1,500 each and five BIB Plaques costing $1,000 each.

 

The BIB International Jury also grants an Honorary Mention to a publishing house for initiative development in children’s illustration in relation to the quality of a book published and shown in the competition. 

 

The Grand Prix BIB illustrator will have a chance to present an individual exhibition in the next year of the BIB.

 

Each country can only enter a maximum of 15 participants to the biennial.

 

RM/YAW

END

 

Actor Parastuii joins Iranian cineastes’ charity auction

March 16, 2015, 12:26 pm

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TEHRAN -- Actor Parviz Parastuii said on Sunday that, like director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and actor Reza Kianian, he plans to sell his awards in an international auction to raise funds for homeless women in Iran.

 

In a press release published by the Persian service of ISNA, Parastuii, in advance, wished a happy Noruz for the Iranian people and added, “We should notice that there are some women living homeless in the four corners of our country.”

 

“They neither have a Haft Seen table nor any family, which they can visit during Noruz,” he stated.

 

He said that he will put on sale the awards that he received from some international events in Rome, Rabat, Jaipur and Belgrade for the benefit of homeless women.

 

In February, the Jaipur International Film Festival in India honored Parastuii with a best actor award for his roles in “Today” and “We Have a Guest”.

 

Earlier in November 2014, he won the best actor award at the 20th Rabat Auteur Film Festival in Morocco for his role in “Today”.

 

The selling of awards by Iranian cineastes for the benefit of homeless Iranian women is becoming a trend after “Tales” director Bani-Etemad announced her plan on March 6 to auction an award that she won at the 8th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2014 to raise funds for homeless women.

 

The auction is scheduled to be organized by the Toloo Bi-neshanha Society, a Tehran-based charity institute that prepares food for homeless people.

 

Afterwards, Kianian also said that he will join the charity auction with his awards.

 

MMS/YAW

END

 

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Art news in brief

March 16, 2015, 12:15 pm

≫ Next: “Borderless” wins jury award at Sofia filmfest

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Shams Ensemble to give concert in Paris 

TEHRAN – Shams Ensemble led by Iranian tanbur virtuoso Keikhosro Purnazeri will perform a concert at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris on April 13.  

 

The ensemble is composed of vocalist Sohrab Purnazeri, tar virtuoso Tahmures Purnazeri, daf player Hossein Rezainia and tanbur player Khorshid Dadbeh.

 

 

Persian version of “Thank You for This Moment” republished

TEHRAN – A Persian version of “Thank You for This Moment”, the controversial book of Valérie Trierweiler, the former partner of French President François Hollande, has recently been republished four months after the release of its first edition. 

 

The book, which originally came out in September 2014, details her relationship with Hollande and their breakup.

 

It was rendered into Persian by Abolfazl Allahdadi, who previously translated Mahtab Bolouki’s “Jean Genet et l’architecture du vide”.

 

The Persian version was published by the Tehran-based publishing house Behnegar.

 

 

Georges Simenon’s “The Misty Harbor” hits Iranian bookstores

TEHRAN -- A Persian translation of “The Misty Harbor” by the 20th-century Belgian author Georges Simenon has been published by Jahan Publications.  

 

The book translated into Persian by Abbas Agahi details the story of a distressed man who is found wandering the streets of Paris, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. 

 

The answers lead Inspector Maigret, the novel’s leading character, to a small harbor town, whose quiet citizens conceal poisonous malice.

 

 

Niccolò Ammaniti’s “Me and You” appears in Persian

TEHRAN – Best-selling Italian author Niccolò Ammaniti’s “Me and You” has recently been published in Persian.

 

In “Me and You”, Ammaniti eschews the violence and black humor of his recent books and recovers the subtlety and restraint he brought to his best-known novel, “I’m Not Scared”.

 

Translated from Italian into Persian by Foruq Haratian, the book was published by Dastan in Tehran. 

 

MA/YAW

END

“Borderless” wins jury award at Sofia filmfest

March 16, 2015, 12:25 pm

≫ Next: Iranian artists concerned about future of Mazichal Forest

≪ Previous: Art news in brief

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TEHRAN – Iranian filmmaker Amir-Hossein Asgari’s movie “Borderless” won the Young Jury Award at the 19th Sofia International Film Festival, which was held in Bulgaria from March 5 to 15.

 

Bulgarian actor Nicola Stoyanov presided over the jury, which selected the film from the entries in the international section.

 

“Borderless” features the story of a schoolboy who always fishes from a grounded ship in the border zone. It is his place of seclusion and serenity and where he earns a livelihood as an angler. But his peace and tranquility are disturbed when a stranger appears.

 

The festival is organized annually by several Bulgarian institutions, including the Sofia Municipality, the Ministry of Culture, the National Palace of Culture, the National Film Center and Bulgarian National Television.

 

MA/YAW

END

 

 

Iranian artists concerned about future of Mazichal Forest

March 16, 2015, 12:28 pm

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TEHRAN – A number of 130 Iranian artists are concerned about the future of Mazichal Forest in the northern region of the country, and have asked President Hassan Rouhani to help preserve it.

 

The forest, which is located near the town of Kelardasht in Mazandaran Province, is said to be part of the oldest forest in the history of world, but the beautiful landscape and the rural area have been invaded by the recent construction of roads and villas.

 

“We are concerned about this national treasure, and this apprehension has also been heard in the recent statements by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei who has called the protection of the environment a ‘national’ concern,” reads part of the letter written to the President. 

 

“As a group of art and cultural figures of Iran, we ask you to be with us and pronounce Mazichal a ‘virgin land’ and take the final step to fight against the commercial profit-seekers. Saving this forest is saving a national treasure, which breathes and gives life to us with its breath,” the authors of the letter write.

 

Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Mahnaz Afshar, Saber Abar, Rambod Javan, Hamed Behdad, Kiumars Purahmad, Hanieh Tavassoli, Roya Teimurian, Bahram Radan and Masud Rayegan are among the artists who have signed the letter.

 

RM/YAW

END

 

 

Works by Iranian illustrators to compete in Bratislava biennial

March 16, 2015, 12:29 pm

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TEHRAN – Fifteen works by Iranian illustrators were selected to compete in the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava (BIB) in Slovakia in 2015.

 

The works will be sent by Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) to the biennial, IIDCYA announced on Monday.

 

Peyman Rahimizadeh’s “Zahhak” and “Mannequin”, Atefeh Malekiju’s “Fearful Phantom”, and Mitra Abdollahi’s “First King of the World” and “Untamed Horses” are among the selected works.

 

“Rustam and Esfandiar” illustrated by Pejman Rahimizadeh, “A Heart Larger than the World” by Mahkameh Shabani and “A Man for Peace” by Nushin Safakhu are also included.

 

A jury composed of writer Zohreh Qaini, illustrators Farshid Mesqali and Ali-Akbar Sadeqi, and graphic designer Kurosh Parsanejad chose the participating works from the 140 submitted last week.

 

The BIB international jury awards One Grand Prix—a financial grant of $3,000—as the highest award of the BIB, and also five Golden Apples BIB worth $1,500 each and five BIB Plaques costing $1,000 each.

 

The BIB International Jury also grants an Honorary Mention to a publishing house for initiative development in children’s illustration in relation to the quality of a book published and shown in the competition. 

 

The Grand Prix BIB illustrator will have a chance to present an individual exhibition in the next year of the BIB.

 

Each country can only enter a maximum of 15 participants to the biennial.

 

RM/YAW

END

 

Actor Parastuii joins Iranian cineastes’ charity auction

March 16, 2015, 12:26 pm

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TEHRAN -- Actor Parviz Parastuii said on Sunday that, like director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and actor Reza Kianian, he plans to sell his awards in an international auction to raise funds for homeless women in Iran.

 

In a press release published by the Persian service of ISNA, Parastuii, in advance, wished a happy Noruz for the Iranian people and added, “We should notice that there are some women living homeless in the four corners of our country.”

 

“They neither have a Haft Seen table nor any family, which they can visit during Noruz,” he stated.

 

He said that he will put on sale the awards that he received from some international events in Rome, Rabat, Jaipur and Belgrade for the benefit of homeless women.

 

In February, the Jaipur International Film Festival in India honored Parastuii with a best actor award for his roles in “Today” and “We Have a Guest”.

 

Earlier in November 2014, he won the best actor award at the 20th Rabat Auteur Film Festival in Morocco for his role in “Today”.

 

The selling of awards by Iranian cineastes for the benefit of homeless Iranian women is becoming a trend after “Tales” director Bani-Etemad announced her plan on March 6 to auction an award that she won at the 8th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in 2014 to raise funds for homeless women.

 

The auction is scheduled to be organized by the Toloo Bi-neshanha Society, a Tehran-based charity institute that prepares food for homeless people.

 

Afterwards, Kianian also said that he will join the charity auction with his awards.

 

MMS/YAW

END

 

Sharjah exhibition to showcase Iranian illustrations

March 17, 2015, 6:59 pm

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TEHRAN – Illustrations by three Iranian artists will be showcased at the 4th Sharjah Exhibition for Children’s Book Illustrations (SECBI), which will be held at the Expo Centre in Sharjah from April 22 to May 2.

 

The artists are Pejman Rahimizadeh, Peyman Rahimizadeh and Reza Dalvand, whose works have been published in the books “Rustam and Esfandiar”, “Zahhak” and “Something Black” respectively, Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) announced on Monday.

 

The works have been sent to the exhibition by the IIDCYA. 

 

The exhibition has received over 1200 submissions from 35 countries, which will be evaluate by a jury composed of Egyptian critic Salah Beesar, Lebanese illustrator Maya Fedawi and Sudanese artist Al Tayeb Saeed.

 

Three winners of the competition will receive cash prizes of $8000, $6000 and $4000 respectively. 

 

MA/YAW

END

 

Tehran Symphony Orchestra resumes with national anthem

March 17, 2015, 7:34 pm

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TEHRAN – The Tehran Symphony Orchestra (TSO) resumed concerts at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Monday evening after a five-year hiatus by performing the national anthem.

 

Maestro Ali Rahbari conducted the orchestra during the performance, which was warmly welcomed by Iranian officials.

 

First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati, Former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Ali Moradkhani attended the concert.

 

A large number of Iranian musicians, including Shahram Nazeri, Farhad Fakhreddini, Shahin Farhat and Davud Ganjei, were also in attendance at the concert.

 

“I must admit tonight is the best night of my life when I witness the reopening of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra after many years,” Vienna-based maestro Ali Rahbari said in his short speech addressing the audience. 

 

“Several years before the victory of Islamic Revolution (1979), I began work with the fathers of these musicians and now after all these years, I continue with their grandchildren. Believe me, they are your own children and if you abandon them, you have committed a great sin. I am very happy to have such musicians in my country, Iran,” he asserted. 

 

Rahbari called members of the orchestra a great treasure of the art and culture of the country and asked officials to help support the orchestra and pave the way for better activities for the talented musicians.

 

He also expressed his thanks to President Hassan Rouhani, the culture minister and all the individuals who have made efforts to restore the orchestra. 

 

RM/YAW

END

 

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Noruz: Welcoming spring and a new year Persian-style!

March 17, 2015, 7:47 pm

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Noruz, the Iranian New Year! Even hearing the sound of the words gives me a warm feeling that spring is finally coming.  Here in Denver, Colorado in the United States, the winter snow has just begun to melt, it is cold outside and morning temperatures still dip below 0 Celsius.  

 

Last week with the frost on the rooftops and the ground covered with ice and snow, the scene outdoors looked more like it could be the week before Yalda Night rather than a few weeks before Noruz. Nevertheless, I told myself, it is time to start growing Sabzeh, the beautiful green sprouts of wheat or lentils to decorate the Sofreh-ye Haft Seen, the special Noruz table.

 

Likewise, the time has come for me to recall all the special symbolic items, each one beginning with the Persian letter Seen, necessary for our Sofreh. Let me see; in addition to sprouts (sabzeh), I need apples (sib), wheat sprout pudding (samanu), garlic (sir), vinegar (serkeh), sumac (sumaq), and Lotus tree fruit (senjed), but that’s hard to find here so maybe I’ll use coins (sekkeh) instead. Also I have to buy a hyacinth (sonbol) at the florist and some eggs to color, an orange to place in a bowl of water, a bottle of rose water, and clean the house, and…

 

Wait a minute, Yuram, you say. OK, fine, you converted to Islam over 10 years ago, and you adopted the Shia mazhab, but, you’re not from Iran, so why are you doing all these preparations for Noruz? An excellent question; let me try to explain. How did I arrive at this point? Indeed, Allah works in mysterious ways.  

 

There are two main reasons. First, my introduction to Islam came from someone who studied in Qom and whose family hails from Iran, Dr. Ibrahim Kazerooni. I spent many wonderful Saturday afternoons with him at his home learning about Islam, Iran and the Middle East while enjoying chai Irani (Iranian tea). Second, my disgust over Washington’s post 9/11 Middle East policies pushed me to become an activist.  

 

When the rhetoric against Iran ramped up after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, I began sending letters of protest to newspapers here in the U.S., but no one was interested in publishing my views. So much for the vaunted First Amendment, I thought to myself. By 2006, my letters had expanded into full-blown op-eds, and still no takers, so I expanded my scope and sent some articles to a few English language news sites in the Middle East, among them the Tehran Times.

 

Then one day, I received an email from Hamid Golpira of the Tehran Times, with a link to an article I had submitted earlier entitled “Unbalanced U.S. Policy on Palestine”. That was in June of 2006, and after two more years of writing articles, Hamid asked me if I could also do a little editing to which I responded, “hatman!”(sure!). Today, over 8 years and 120 articles later, I’m still writing and editing for the Tehran Times.  

 

Every morning, 6 days a week, I receive an email with news files in English for editing from Mr. Mousavi, with whom I try to communicate exclusively in Persian, so this is like having a personal daily lesson in Farsi live from Tehran! And after editing, by my rough calculation, some 10,000 of his news articles, I can honestly say that his English is far better than my Persian. Nevertheless, I still keep trying and learning.

 

In 2012, my wife, Batyah, and I had the privilege of visiting Iran and we both fell in love with the country and the people. After we stopped in at the Tehran Times, we went on to Mashhad to visit the Shrine of Imam Reza (AS) and then to Shiraz, Isfahan and Qom. We both hope someday to return, and, if the Foreign Ministry accepts us as resident aliens, to reside in Iran. 

 

So you see, it’s only natural that I celebrate Noruz, and if I’m counting correctly, this is our tenth year of sharing this most beautiful Iranian way of welcoming spring and the New Year. Next year, Noruz in Iran, insha’Allah.

 

 

YAW/

END

 

Stars Iran lost over past year

March 17, 2015, 7:16 pm

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* Actor Nasser Gitijah (1935–April 8, 2014)

 

He played memorable roles in the popular TV series “Morad Barghi” and “Haft Dokhtaroon” directed by Parviz Kardan and “Tenth Night” by Hassan Fat’hi.

 

His role in Reza Attaran’s acclaimed movie “I Feel Sleepy” brought him an honorary certificate at the 30th Fajr International Film Festival in 2012.

* Tar and setar virtuoso Mohammadreza Lotfi (1947–May 2, 2014)

 

His collaboration with prominent Iranian vocalists and musicians, including Mohammadreza Shajarian, Shahram Nazeri, and Parviz Meshkatian resulted in creation of songs that became hits of traditional Iranian music during the 1980s. 

 

Lotfi performed widely in concerts in countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

* Photojournalist Hossein Partovi (1942-May 18, 2014)

 

He shot to fame for his photograph that depicts a group of students from Iran’s air force academy saluting the founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini on February 11, 1979.

* Actor Baqer Sahrarudi (1941-June 29, 2014)

 

Famous for his unique style of performance, he played roles in several movies including “Non-profit Police Station”, “Kingdom of Solomon” and “Marriage, Iranian Style”.

 

He also appeared in several acclaimed TV series, including “Alley of Acacia” and “Garlic and Vinegar”. 

* Poet Simin Behbahani (1927-August 19, 2014)

 

Mostly known for the new rhymes she innovated in modern Persian ghazal (ode) form, she wrote over twenty anthologies of poetry. 

 

Her first collection “The Broken Setar” was published in 1951 and her last, “The Collection of Simin Behbahani’s Poems”, came out in 2012.

 

A selection of her poems rendered into English by Iranian translator Ismail Salami was published in a book entitled “Maybe It’s the Messiah” in 2002.

* Khorasan regional music maestro Gholam-Ali Purataii (1941-October 4, 2014)

 

He was mostly known by his song “Navaii, Navaii”. Purataii used many poems by Rumi and Ferdowsi during the numerous concerts that he performed in Iranian and international events.

* Pop singer Morteza Pashaii (1984–November 14, 2014)

 

He made his debut album in 2010 with “There Is Someone”. He also recorded three other albums “One-Way Road”, “Breathe” and “Worship”. 

 

Pashaii died of gastric cancer in Tehran at the age of 30.

* Actor Majid Bahrami (1977–15 November, 2014)

 

Bahrami died after some three years of battling blood cancer. 

 

He starred in many plays, movies and TV series, including “The Capital 2” and “Less than Few Minutes”. He was one of the leading actors in Mehdi Naderi’s war drama “Farewell Baghdad”, which was Iran’s submission to the Academy Awards in 2010.

* Actor Anushirvan Arjmand (1941-December 14, 2014)

 

He played in several films and TV series, however he is mostly famous for his roles in historical and religious TV series, including “Imam Ali (AS)” and “Mokhtarnameh” by Iranian director Davud Mirbaqeri.

* Actor/writer Morteza Ahamdi (1924–December 21, 2014)

 

He was one of the few artists who possessed expertise in Iran’s traditional theatrical performances such as ru-hozi, pardekhani and siah-bazi.

 

Ahmadi played roles in many films and TV series, including “The Sultan of Sahebqaran”, “Grand Cinema”, “Waiting for Satan”, “”Autobus” and “The Man who Knew Too Much”.

* Voice actor Ahmad Rasulzadeh (1931-January 9, 2015)

 

He was famous for lending his voice to the characters of Mexican American actor Anthony Quinn in several movies.

 

Rasulzadeh also dubbed over Orson Welles’s voice in “The Long, Hot Summer” directed Martin Ritt and “A Man for All Seasons” by Fred Zinnemann.

* Poet Moshfeq Kashani (1925-January 18, 2015)

 

One of the restorers of Persian classical poetry, he composed over ten collections of poems and books, including “Ballade of Life”, “Memoires”, “Wine of Sun”, “Lightening”, “The Mirror of Imagination”, “The Red Spring of Ballade” and “The Mystery of Winter”.

 

His works were highly regarded by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

* Film critic, author and filmmaker Zaven Qukasian (1950–February, 20 2015)

 

He was the author of a large number books and biographies of prominent Iranian filmmakers and stars, including Bahram Beizaii, Masud Kimiaii, Abbas Kiarostami, Bahman Farmanara, Khosro Sinaii, Golab Adineh, Reza Arham-Sadr and Fatemeh Motamed-Arya. 

 

He made his debut feature film “All My Children” in 1984. 

 

MA/YAW

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The 10 top cultural news stories of the year

March 17, 2015, 7:35 pm

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* UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova visited Iran in late April. She visited several Iranian historical sites registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during her sojourn in Iran. 

 

The Bam Citadel in Kerman Province, the mausoleums of Hafez and Sadi in Shiraz, and Chehel Sotun Palace and Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan were among the sites she visited.

* The 5200-year-old Burnt City located in southeastern Iran was registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee on June 22.

 

A 10-centimeter ruler with an accuracy of half a millimeter, an artificial eyeball, an earthenware bowl bearing the world’s oldest example of animation and many other artifacts have been discovered among the ruins of the city in the course of the many seasons of archaeological excavations conducted by Iranian teams.

* Several Iranian musicians and literati received France’s Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. The medal is the highest decoration awarded by the French government.

 

Vocalist Mohammadreza Shajarian received France’s Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on June 24, 2014. Iranian cartoonist Kambiz Derambakhsh received the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on October 27, 2014. Derambakhsh was the first Iranian visual artist to have received the award. 

 

Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjuii received the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on November 10, 2014. Mehrjuii is known outside of the country as one of Iran’s new wave directors.

 

Iranian author Mahmud Dowlatabadi, mostly famous for his novel “Kalidar”, received the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on November 18, 2014.

 

Iranian translator Lili Golestan, who is also the curator of Tehran’s Golestan Gallery, received France’s Order of Academic Palms on November 19, 2014.

 

However, Iranian tar virtuoso and composer Hossein Alizadeh, who has worked with many Iranian and foreign musicians, refused to accept the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on November 30, 2014.

 

In an open letter, Alizadeh said that he does not need any decorations and added that he derives satisfaction from his good name.

* Iranian director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad won one of two jury grand prizes at the 8th Asia Pacific Screen Award for her acclaimed social drama “Tales” on December 13, 2014.

 

However, she plans to sell the award during an international auction to raise funds for homeless women.

* The Cinquantenaire Museum - Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels returned a collection of Persian artifacts, which had been taken by a Belgian diplomat 35 years ago. The treasure arrived in Tehran on December 25.

 

The collection, which contains over 300 ancient items, was restituted to the Iranian Embassy in Brussels after a Brussels appeals court ruled that the Iranian artifacts must be sent back to Iran. 

* Renowned Japanese musician Kitaro gave concerts in Tehran in October, 2014. The concerts by the Grammy award-winning musician were warmly welcomed by the Iranian concertgoers.

* Iranian stage director Behruz Gharibpur and architect Mohammad-Mansur Falamaki each received the order of Stella d’Italia (Star of Italy) for their lifetime achievements on February 16.

 

Gharibpur’s cultural activities and stage performances in Italy were said to be the reasons for the honor, and Falamaki is a prominent architectural advocate promoting true Iranian architecture. 

* The southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz was designated Iran’s Book Capital from among ten nominations competing for the position on February 21, 2015. 

 

Nine other nominations were Bushehr, Yazd, Tabriz, Shahr-e Kord, Qom, Kashan, Kermanshah, Gonbad-e Kavus and Neyshabur.

* A collection from the “Rainbow” series by German artist Otto Piene (1928–2014), one of the leading figures in technology-based art opened at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art on February 25, 2015.

 

His first ever exhibit in the Middle East, the exhibit reveals a variety of artworks ranging from paintings to light sculptures, smoke and fire paintings, and beautiful environmental “sky art”. The exhibit runs until April 17, 2015.

* Iranian maestro Ali Rahbari returned to his homeland to restore the Tehran Symphony Orchestra (TSO), a mission that he had left unfinished in 2005.

 

He began on March 5, 2015, and plans to perform the Symphony No. 9, Ludwig van Beethoven’s final complete symphony, during his new collaboration with the Tehran Symphony Orchestra.

 

RM/YAW

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Sharjah exhibition to showcase Iranian illustrations

March 17, 2015, 6:59 pm

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TEHRAN – Illustrations by three Iranian artists will be showcased at the 4th Sharjah Exhibition for Children’s Book Illustrations (SECBI), which will be held at the Expo Centre in Sharjah from April 22 to May 2.

 

The artists are Pejman Rahimizadeh, Peyman Rahimizadeh and Reza Dalvand, whose works have been published in the books “Rustam and Esfandiar”, “Zahhak” and “Something Black” respectively, Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) announced on Monday.

 

The works have been sent to the exhibition by the IIDCYA. 

 

The exhibition has received over 1200 submissions from 35 countries, which will be evaluate by a jury composed of Egyptian critic Salah Beesar, Lebanese illustrator Maya Fedawi and Sudanese artist Al Tayeb Saeed.

 

Three winners of the competition will receive cash prizes of $8000, $6000 and $4000 respectively. 

 

MA/YAW

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Tehran Symphony Orchestra resumes with national anthem

March 17, 2015, 7:34 pm

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TEHRAN – The Tehran Symphony Orchestra (TSO) resumed concerts at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Monday evening after a five-year hiatus by performing the national anthem.

 

Maestro Ali Rahbari conducted the orchestra during the performance, which was warmly welcomed by Iranian officials.

 

First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati, Former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Ali Moradkhani attended the concert.

 

A large number of Iranian musicians, including Shahram Nazeri, Farhad Fakhreddini, Shahin Farhat and Davud Ganjei, were also in attendance at the concert.

 

“I must admit tonight is the best night of my life when I witness the reopening of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra after many years,” Vienna-based maestro Ali Rahbari said in his short speech addressing the audience. 

 

“Several years before the victory of Islamic Revolution (1979), I began work with the fathers of these musicians and now after all these years, I continue with their grandchildren. Believe me, they are your own children and if you abandon them, you have committed a great sin. I am very happy to have such musicians in my country, Iran,” he asserted. 

 

Rahbari called members of the orchestra a great treasure of the art and culture of the country and asked officials to help support the orchestra and pave the way for better activities for the talented musicians.

 

He also expressed his thanks to President Hassan Rouhani, the culture minister and all the individuals who have made efforts to restore the orchestra. 

 

RM/YAW

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