Shahnameh expert Azizollah Joveini dies at 87

February 13, 2013, 7:21 am

≫ Next: “Modest Reception” wins award at Vesoul filmfest

≪ Previous: Iranian entertainers plan to launch music competition series

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- Iranian scholar Azizollah Joveini, who was mostly known for his expertise in the Shahnameh, the magnum opus of the epic Persian poet Ferdowsi, passed away at the age of 87 on Wednesday.

 

He was admitted to the Tehran Clinic Hospital due to internal bleeding last week and shortly afterwards he went into a coma and finally died in the early hours of Wednesday, some Persian news websites reported.

 

A professor of the Persian literature at the University of Tehran, Joveini spent about decade providing an improved version of the Shahnameh based the earliest surviving manuscript, which is kept at the Central National Library of Florence in Italy.

 

Explanations and interpretations were added to the complicated verses of the version of the Shahnameh and the stories have also been written in prose, Joveini had said in October 2012 when he completed the work.

 

He provided a new Persian translation of the Nahj-ul-Balagha, a book that contains the sermons, letters, and sayings of Imam Ali (AS).

 

Joveini will be buried in Tehran’s Behesht Zahra Cemetery on Thursday morning, his son Maziar told the Persian service of FNA.

 

“He was eager to be buried in the courtyard of the mausoleum of Ferdowsi in Tus,” he said.

 

“But, I have recently learned that burial is prohibited in the site based base on rules,” he added.
 

MMS/YAW

END

---

“Modest Reception” wins award at Vesoul filmfest

February 13, 2013, 7:21 am

≫ Next: Book on conceptual art hits Iranian bookstores

≪ Previous: Shahnameh expert Azizollah Joveini dies at 87

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- The acclaimed Iranian drama “Modest Reception” won an award at the Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in France.

 

“Modest Reception” received the Coup de Cœur INALCO Award at the festival, organizers announced on Tuesday.

 

The award is presented by the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations.

 

In addition, the film’s star Taraneh Alidusti received a special mention for the power of her expression.

 

“Modest Reception is about a well-situated couple, Leila and Kaveh, who drive through the mountains distributing plastic bags full of money to every poor and unfortunate person they meet. 

 

Starring Mani Haqiqi and Taraneh Alidusti, “Modest Reception” has received accolades from several international festivals.

 

The acclaimed Iranian actress Baran Kowsari is among the jury members of the festival.

 

“Modest Reception” is currently on screen in Iranian theaters and was screened in several theaters in Switzerland last September. 

 

The film was distributed in the country by the Trigon-Film Foundation.

 

“With you, without you” by Prasanna Vithanage from Sri Lanka and “Jiseul” by Meul O. from South Korea shared the grand prix of the Vesoul festival.
 

SB/YAW

END

Book on conceptual art hits Iranian bookstores

February 15, 2013, 7:33 am

≫ Next: Southern Iranian band raises funds for quake victims in Azarbaijan

≪ Previous: “Modest Reception” wins award at Vesoul filmfest

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- The latest studies on conceptual art by Iranian scholar Alireza Sami-Azar have been published in a book.

 

“Conceptual Revolution”, which has been released by the Nazar Publications early last week, was unveiled during a ceremony at the Mah-e Mehr Artistic Institute on Tuesday.

 

The ceremony was attended by Sami-Azar and a number of artists, scholars and art fans.

 

The 275-page book, which is the second volume of the “History of World Contemporary Art” series, has two comprehensive chapters on conceptual art and minimal art.

 

“Climax and Trough of Modernism” is the first volume of the series, which was published in 2010.

 

“Due to the lack of resources, it is obvious that a kind of cliché view is created via the translated texts about modern art,” Sami-Azar said in a short speech during the ceremony.

 

He said that a translator is not able to describe all the aspects of an emerging movement in a text and this leads to some problems in understanding of the text.

 

The book familiarizes the readers with the challenging views of critics of the Western culture and art, he added.

 

Painter and critic Aidin Aghdashlu described the writing of the book as a special and historical event and said, “The book shows that we have the courage to comment on global art.”

 

“We can express our views about the art of the world in the form of an analytical book and this means there is a new challenge for the art community in the world,” he stated.

 

SB/YAW

END

 

 

 

 

Southern Iranian band raises funds for quake victims in Azarbaijan

February 15, 2013, 7:33 am

≫ Next: Dutch, Iranian pianists refresh “Persian Hours” in Tehran

≪ Previous: Book on conceptual art hits Iranian bookstores

$

0

0

TEHRAN – The Lian band from the southern Iranian city of Bushehr raised money for the people living in the quake-stricken regions of East Azarbaijan Province during their performance at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Thursday.

 

“All the money raised by this concert will presented to the victims of the quakes in East Azarbaijan Province,” band leader Mohsen Sharifian said after their performance at the 28th Fajr International Music Festival.

 

A great cheer went up from the concertgoers after Sharifian made the announcement.

 

“I always want to make happy my people. I use folk music in this way,” he said.

 

Two devastating earthquakes jolted regions in the northwestern Iranian province on August 11, 2012.

 

Lian performs a range of percussion instruments and neyanbun, a kind of bagpipe which is played in southern Iran.

 

Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Hamid Shahabadi also attended the concert.

 

“I say hello to Mr. Shahabadi. Instead, I expect him to support the Iranian folk music,” Sharifian said.

 

He also asked Shahabadi to help obtain authorization from the Culture Ministry for the band’s latest album to be released.

 

MMS/YAW

END

 

Dutch, Iranian pianists refresh “Persian Hours” in Tehran

February 15, 2013, 7:34 am

≫ Next: Tehran museum celebrates calligrapher Nasrollah Afjei’s birthday

≪ Previous: Southern Iranian band raises funds for quake victims in Azarbaijan

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- Dutch pianist Ralph van Raat and Iranian pianist Aida Sigharian performed French composer Charles Louis Eugène Koechlin’s masterpiece “The Persian Hours” (Les heures persanes) at Tehran’s Rudaki Hall on Thursday night.

 

The audience was impressed by the duet, which was performed at the 28th Fajr International Music Festival, organizers announced on Friday.

 

Koechlin wrote “The Persian Hours” as a piano suite that he completed in 1919. He orchestrated the music in just two weeks in 1921. 

 

The entire suite was not performed during the composer’s lifetime, and in fact was not performed for the first time until 1986. 

 

Charles Koechlin never traveled to Persia (modern Iran) but based his impressions from a book “Vers Ispahan”, a diary by Pierre Loti written about his expedition in 1906.

 

Van Raat also performed works by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and Iranian composer Alireza Mashayekhi. He gave performances in Shiraz on Tuesday.

 

Van Raat, 35, studied music at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and musicology at the University of Amsterdam under Ton Hartsuiker and Willem Brons.

 

He also studied with Claude Helffer in Paris, Ursula Oppens at Northwestern University, Liisa Pohjola in Finland, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard at the Musikhochschule in Cologne.

 

He has performed with many orchestras, including the London Sinfonietta, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, and the Dortmunder Philharmoniker.

 

Van Raat has recorded a number of CDs as an exclusive artist for the Naxos label. He had previously recorded CDs with the Etcetera, Attacca, and Erasmus labels.

 

He also works for Steinway & Sons, an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos.

 

MMS/YAW

END

 

 

 

    

 

Tehran museum celebrates calligrapher Nasrollah Afjei’s birthday

February 15, 2013, 7:35 am

≫ Next: Iranian director laments delay in delivery of Iraqi festival’s prize

≪ Previous: Dutch, Iranian pianists refresh “Persian Hours” in Tehran

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- The Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum celebrated the 79th birthday of veteran calligrapher Nasrollah Afjei during a ceremony on Wednesday evening.

 

At the beginning of the ceremony, the calligrapher Yadollah Kaboli expressed his happiness over attending the event.

 

“His achievements in calligraphy are too profound to be discussed in a short ceremony,” he added.

 

“Afjei is a universal character. In other words he is one of our national heritages,” veteran painter Parviz Kalantari said at the ceremony.

 

An exhibition of his latest works is currently underway at the museum.

 

Born in 1933 in Tehran, Afjei started calligraphy in the 1970s. 

 

The Ministry Of Culture and Islamic Guidance has previously granted his the First Grade Order of Art and Culture.

 

He has held several exhibitions in Iran and other countries.

 

SB/

END

 

Iranian director laments delay in delivery of Iraqi festival’s prize

February 16, 2013, 6:27 am

≫ Next: Life of Cyrus the Great versified

≪ Previous: Tehran museum celebrates calligrapher Nasrollah Afjei’s birthday

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- Iranian stage director Zahar Sabri has lamented over a delay in the delivery of a prize her group won at the 2nd Hawler International Theater Festival, which was held in Erbil, Iraq, from September 18 to 24, 2012.

 

Her puppet play “The Earth and the Universe”, an adaptation of seven stories from Rumi’s Masnavi-e Manavi, won the prize for best production at the festival, but her troupe had to leave Iraq to give a performance in Kazakhstan before the closing ceremony of the event, she told the Persian service of ISNA on Saturday.

 

Thus, she asked the organizers of the festival to send the award to her later. However, she has not received the award so far.

 

“The prize, which includes a plaque of honor and a statue of the festival, has no monetary value, but I want to have it in my collection of prizes,” Sabri said.

 

Sabri founded her group, Yase-e Tamam, in 1990. Their performances have won many accolades at international events in Iran, Spain, France, Lebanon and several other countries.

 

Among her credits are “Count to One”, an anti-war play based Omar Khayyam’s poetry and thoughts, and “Macondo”, based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”, both of which have been acclaimed at many Iranian and international events.

 

MMS/YAW

END

Life of Cyrus the Great versified

February 16, 2013, 7:35 am

≫ Next: Iranian photographer wins awards at World Photo Press

≪ Previous: Iranian director laments delay in delivery of Iraqi festival’s prize

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- An Iranian poet has recently versified the life story of Cyrus the Great (c600–529 BC), king of Persia and the founder of the Persian Empire.

 

“The Versified Story of the Achaemenid Cyrus” is in rhymed couplets, Peyman Motamedi told the Persian service of ISNA on Saturday.

 

Afsar, a publishing company in Isfahan, will soon release the book, he added.

 

“Little has been done on this issue. So I decided to compose the versified work. In addition, I have been interested in poetry since my youth,” Motamedi, 47, said.

 

He used works of the Greek historian and essayist, Xenophon (ca. 430– ca.355 BC), to write the work.

 

Motamedi said that he also plans to versify the history of Iran in the future.

 

MMS/YAW

END

---

Iranian photographer wins awards at World Photo Press

February 16, 2013, 7:36 am

≫ Next: French filmfest impressed after catching a glimpse of “Glimmer”

≪ Previous: Life of Cyrus the Great versified

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- Iranian photographer Ebrahim Noruzi has won two awards at the World Photo Press 2013.

 

The winners of the world’s largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest were announced on Friday

 

Noruzi won the first prize of the Observed Portraits Section for his photo collection “Victims of Forced Love”.

 

The collection depicts the aftermath of an attack in Iran, during which a man poured acid over the faces of his wife, Somayyeh Mehri, and his two daughters, Rana and Nazanin, while they were sleeping at home in a village in the southeastern city of Bam in 2012, after Somayyeh filed for divorce.

 

Somayyeh lost her sight in one eye. The skin across her face and arms is covered with rough, discolored scars. Her younger daughter, Rana, now at 3, has been disfigured and also lost one of her eyes. The older daughter, Nazanin, was injured less severely.

 

Noruzi also won the second prize at the Staged Portraits Stories Section for his photo collection “Mournful”.

 

The collection features the rituals of mourning season of Muharram in Lorestan Province, especially in Khoramabad in Iran.

 

Born in 1980 in Tehran, Noruzi began working as a professional photographer in 2004 with the Fars News Agency. 

 

His photographs have appeared nationally and internationally, in such publications as The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, and have been distributed by Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, Reuters, United Press International and the European Press Photo Agency.

 

World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. 

 

The awards ceremony is held in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. 

 

After the contest, the prizewinning photographs are assembled into a traveling exhibition that is visited by over a million people in 40 countries. 

 

SB/YAW

END

French filmfest impressed after catching a glimpse of “Glimmer”

February 16, 2013, 7:35 am

≫ Next: Iranian Artists Forum to host Turkish Cultural Days

≪ Previous: Iranian photographer wins awards at World Photo Press

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- The Iranian short film “Glimmer” received the honorable mention of the international jury at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival.

 

Directed by Omid Abdollahi, “Glimmer” tells the story of an old optician who is going to close his optometry shop due to his weak eyesight. But there is still a client who has not come to pick up her spectacles yet.

 

Another Iranian film “After the Class” by Fereshteh Parnianzad also competed in the international section of the festival.

 

The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, which was held from February 1 to 9, is the world’s leading film festival dedicated to short films. 

 

It is held annually in Clermont-Ferrand, France, and is the second largest film festival in France after Cannes in terms of audience and professional attendance, boasting over 100,000 attendees annually since 1995.

 

SB/YAW

END

Iranian Artists Forum to host Turkish Cultural Days

February 17, 2013, 7:12 am

≫ Next: Foreign films line up for Tehran Intl. Short Film Festival

≪ Previous: French filmfest impressed after catching a glimpse of “Glimmer”

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- The Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran will be playing host to Turkish Cultural Days from February 20 to 22.

 

Exhibitions of Turkish traditional costumes, handicrafts, and artworks have been arranged for the event, which has been organized by the Embassy of Turkey, the IAF announced in a press conference on Sunday.

 

A lineup of movies will also be screened during the days and a number of panel discussions will be held at the festival.

 

“The affinities between Iran and Turkey are not only defined merely by the geographical proximity of the countries, but also the cultural commonalities serve to strengthen the friendship and brotherhood between the countries,” IAF Majid Sarsangi said in the press conference.

 

Turkish Ambassador Ümit Yardim and cultural attaché Yakup Alkilic also attended the conference.

 

MMS/YAW

END

Foreign films line up for Tehran Intl. Short Film Festival

February 17, 2013, 7:12 am

≫ Next: Wax effigy of veteran sculptor Amir-Esmaeil Sonduzi unveiled in Tehran

≪ Previous: Iranian Artists Forum to host Turkish Cultural Days

$

0

0

TEHRAN – Filmmakers from 64 countries have submitted their latest productions to the 30th Tehran International Short Film Festival.

 

The festival has received submissions from 376 filmmakers so far, organizers announced on Sunday.

 

Eighty-three films have been submitted by French filmmakers. 19 films by Germans and 14 films by British directors are also among the submissions.

 

The festival announced the call for entries on February 1 for the films, which will be screened in the national and international sections.

 

The Iranian Young Cinema Society (IYCS) is the main organizer of the festival, which is scheduled to be held in October 2013.

 

SB/YAW

END

Wax effigy of veteran sculptor Amir-Esmaeil Sonduzi unveiled in Tehran

February 17, 2013, 7:21 am

≫ Next: Intl. Storytelling Festival opens in Tabriz

≪ Previous: Foreign films line up for Tehran Intl. Short Film Festival

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- A life-size wax effigy of the U.S.-based Iranian sculptor, painter, and dentist Amir-Esmaeil Sonduzi has been unveiled at his museum in Tehran.

 

The statue has been created by Hamid Kangarani Farahani, whose works are kept in many Iranian and foreign collections.

 

“It was great honor for me to make the sculpture,” Kangarani Farahani said during a ceremony the Sonduzi Museum held on Saturday to unveil the artwork.

 

“My works are mostly realistic. However, I am also interested in surrealistic works,” he stated.

 

“The sculptures created by master Sonduzi are figurative and some of them that were inspired by Persian literature are conceptual,” he added.

 

A number of Sonduzi’s colleagues and friends also attended the ceremony at the museum, which once was his office for dentistry.

 

“His character was amazing,” painter Hossein Mahjubi said in a short speech.

 

“When he was in Iran, I saw him many times creating a painting or a sculpture in a corner of his office as he pursued his job as a dentist,” he added.

 

Making the statue has been sponsored by the Tehran Municipality. 

 

Mahjubi asked the municipality to extend the space of the museum by adding the properties adjacent to the museum.

 

Two years before he left Iran to live in San Diego in 1998, Sonduzi, 84, donated his office to the Tehran Municipality to convert it into a museum in order to display a large collection of his works.

 

MMS/YAW

END

Intl. Storytelling Festival opens in Tabriz

February 17, 2013, 7:22 am

≫ Next: What’s in art galleries

≪ Previous: Wax effigy of veteran sculptor Amir-Esmaeil Sonduzi unveiled in Tehran

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- The 16th International Storytelling Festival opened at Tabriz’s Eqbal-e Azar Hall on Sunday.

 

Forty Iranian storytellers are competing with 10 of their counterparts from the foreign countries of Singapore, Peru, Russia, Australia and several others.

 

Ten foreign storytellers along with forty Iranian storytellers attended the opening ceremony of the festival.

 

Three foreign storytellers and eighteen Iranian storytellers recounted stories for the children of Tabriz on Sunday.

 

Alexander Kaymanakov from Russia, César Alberto Peru and Roger Jenkins from Singapore are the foreign storytellers who presented their stories on the first day of the festival. 

 

The foreign storytellers were selected from 50 applicants from 35 countries.

 

The Iranian storytellers, selected from 1700 participants, tell stories on Persian heroes and champions as well as anecdotes extracted from classic literary texts.

 

Organized by the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), the festival runs until February 19.  
 

SB/YAW

END

What’s in art galleries

February 18, 2013, 7:27 am

≫ Next: “Gabriel Garcia Marquez” appears in Iranian bookstores

≪ Previous: Intl. Storytelling Festival opens in Tabriz

$

0

0

Painting 

 

* Paintings by Nazila Sediqi are currently on display in an exhibition at the Vaali Gallery.

 

The showcase runs until February 26 at the gallery located at 71 Khoddami St. off Vanak Square.

 

* Paintings by Omid Masumi along with a collection of sculptures by Raheleh Noavar are on display in an exhibit at the Etemad Gallery.

 

The exhibition runs until February 26 at the gallery located at 4 Bukan St. off Sadeqi Qomi St., near Yasser Square in the Niavaran neighborhood.

 

* An exhibition of paintings by Behruz Sharifi-Zidashti is currently underway at the Shirin Gallery.

 

In addition, another hall of the gallery is hosting an exhibition of paintings by Maryam Heidarzadeh.

 

The exhibitions run until February 27 at the gallery, which can be found at 145 North Salimi St., off Andarzgu Blvd. in the Farmanieh neighborhood.

 

* An exhibition of paintings by Maryam Ebtekar is currently underway at the Elaheh Gallery.

 

The show runs until February 25 at the gallery located at 6 Golfam St. off Africa Ave.

 

Photo

 

* Photos by Sorush Milaninejad are currently display in an exhibition at the Mohsen Gallery. 

 

The exhibit will continue until February 27 at the gallery located at 112 Lavasani St. in the northern Kamranieh neighborhood. 

 

* The latest photos by a group of photographers are currently on display in an exhibition at the Haft-Samar Gallery.

 

Photos by Shahab Ahmadlu, Hamid Janipur, Azin Rad, Amirali Golrrzi and Mahmudreza Nurbakhsh have been showcased at the exhibition, which runs until February 20.

 

The gallery is located at No. 8 Fifth Alley, Kuh-e Nur St., off Motahhari Ave.

 

Painting/photo

 

* The Seen Gallery is currently playing host to an exhibition of works by a number of painters and photographers.

 

Among the group members are Samaneh Akbari, Maryam Borumad, Nilufar Fereyduni and Elnaz Bandegi.

 

The exhibition runs until March 1 at the gallery, which can be found at No. 16, 12th Alley, Piruzan St. off Hormozan Ave. in Shahrak-e Gharb neighborhood. 

 

SB/YAW

END

---

“Gabriel Garcia Marquez” appears in Iranian bookstores

February 18, 2013, 7:25 am

≫ Next: Scholar Mehdi Mohaqqeq honored

≪ Previous: What’s in art galleries

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- The Persian translation of Gerald Martin’s “Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life” was published in Iran last week.

 

Qoqnus Publications released the book, which was translated by Bahman Farzaneh, who introduced Marquez’s acclaimed work “One Hundred Years of Solitude” to Iranians in 1979.

 

“Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life” is the first full and authorized biography of the 1982 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature — the most popular international novelist of the last fifty years, Garcia Marquez.

 

Over the course of the nearly two decades Gerald Martin gave to the research and writing of this masterly biography, he not only spent many hours in conversation with Gabriel Garcia Marquez himself but also interviewed more than three hundred others.

 

He conducted interviews with Garcia Marquez’s wife and sons, mother and siblings, literary agent and translators; Carlos Fuentes, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Alvaro Mutis, among other writers.

 

Fidel Castro and Felipe Gonzalez and other political figures, his closest friends as well as those who consider themselves his detractors are interviewed in the book. 

 

Gerald Martin is Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emeritus of Modern Languages at the University of Pittsburgh and Senior Research Professor in Caribbean Studies at London Metropolitan University. 

 

SB/YAW

END

Scholar Mehdi Mohaqqeq honored

February 18, 2013, 7:31 am

≫ Next: “Good Stories” writer Mehdi Azar Yazdi biopic produced

≪ Previous: “Gabriel Garcia Marquez” appears in Iranian bookstores

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- Persian literature expert and scholar of Islamic science Mehdi Mohaqqeq was honored during a ceremony in Tehran at the Mahmud Afshar Foundation on Saturday evening.

 

The ceremony was organized by Bokhara, a Persian monthly on literature.

 

“Master Mehdi Mohaqqeq is one the greatest scholars our history has ever seen,” Shahnameh expert Bahaeddin Khorramshahi said in a short speech at the ceremony.

 

“He has the honor of Iran by his activities in international organizations and events,” he added.

 

“For his field trips, he wrote ‘Praise of God’s Grace’, which is an autobiography, a travelogue and a bibliography. I have never seen such an amazing work in my life,” he stated.

 

A retired professor of the University of Tehran, Mohaqqeq, 83, was the director of the Iranian Society of Cultural Works and Luminaries until May 2010. Afterwards, a cleric was appointed to the society by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

 

Mohaqqeq got Ph.D.s in the Persian literature and Islamic theology. He has written many books on Islamic medicine.

 

He also studied at the Mashhad and Tehran seminaries, where he received permission to practice ijtihad, the use of reasoning to arrive at the knowledge of truth in religious matters.

 

He is the founder of “The Shiism Encyclopaedia” and made very substantial contributions to “The Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam”.

 

“I do not deserve the praises given to me,” Mohaqqeq said.

 

“I have always wished that I could attend a meeting to criticize myself,” he added.

 

Mohaqqeq referred to the gold coins, which are usually awarded to certain scholars and literati during official ceremonies and said, “Awarding gold coins to scholars does not indicate respect for them. The scholars expect that their knowledge to be recognized and that they are provided with opportunities for work.”

 

He also thanked Bokaran Managing Director Ali Dehbashi for organizing commemoration ceremonies for Iranian and foreign scholars and literati.

 

Mohaqqeq’s wife Nushafarin Ansari, who is a children’s literature expert, also attended the ceremony.

 

“I married Mohaqqeq about a half century ago. During these few minutes, I will attempt to relate some of what happened in our home and what led our life toward happiness, peace, and friendship,” she said.

 

“Dialogue has always taken place in our home. Some things such as remembering people who live nearby, making efforts, innovations, spirituality, thinking, happiness and generosity are always being repeated in our lives,” she added.

 

The ceremony came to an end with speeches by some of Mohaqqeq’s friends and students.

 

MMS/YAW

END

“Good Stories” writer Mehdi Azar Yazdi biopic produced

February 18, 2013, 7:32 am

≫ Next: Ankara center showcases works by Iranian, Turkish painters

≪ Previous: Scholar Mehdi Mohaqqeq honored

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- Iranian TV has recently produced a biopic about Mehdi Azar Yazdi (1921-2009), the writer of the Persian bestseller “Good Stories for Good Children”.

 

Directed by Mostafa Kushki, “The Storyteller” will be broadcast from Channel 2 during Noruz, the Iranian New Year celebration that will begin on March 21 this year, producer Ahmad Seyyed-Paydari announced in a press release on Monday.

 

A boy from Yazd, Azar Yazdi’s hometown, plays Azar Yazdi in childhood, and Nima Naderi and Farrokh Nemati play him in youth and adulthood respectively, he added.

 

Khatereh Hatami, Vahid Rahmati, Mehrdad Ziaii, Marjan Shokufaki and Ali Soleimani are other members of the cast.

  

Azar Yazdi’s life story has been highly regarded by filmmakers after his death.

 

The Saba Art and Cultural Institute is currently producing a 3-D animation series based on his “Good Stories for Good Children”, which earned him national fame.

 

In addition, Puria Azarbaijani directed “The Old Man and the World”, a docudrama about Azar Yazdi, which was aired and reviewed on Channel 4 in July 2012.

 

He simplified stories from classic Persian masterpieces such as the Gulistan, Masnavi-e Manavi, Marzbannameh and Sinbadnameh to write “Good Stories” in eight volumes. 

 

It also comprises stories from the Holy Quran and the life of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and his Household (AS).

 

The book won a UNESCO prize in 1966 and was selected as Iran’s book of the year in 1967.  His “Adam” won the title in 1968.

    

Azar Yazdi’s credits also included “The Naughty Cat”, “The Playful Cat”, “Simple Stories”, “Poetry of Sugar and Honey” and “Masnavi for Good Children”.

 

MMS/YAW

END

Ankara center showcases works by Iranian, Turkish painters

February 19, 2013, 7:44 am

≫ Next: Iranian director plans to stage “Molly Sweeney” in Ireland

≪ Previous: “Good Stories” writer Mehdi Azar Yazdi biopic produced

$

0

0

TEHRAN – An exhibition of paintings by Maryman Hamed-Esmaeili from Iran and Suleyman Sahin from Turkey opened at the Anse Center in Ankara on Monday.

 

“I prefer expressionistic style in my paintings with a variety of colors, which leads to a happy mood in this kind of art,” Hamed-Esmaeili told the Persian service of IRNA.

 

A Ph.D. student of painting at the Gazi University of Ankara, Hamed-Esmaeili has held over 20 exhibitions in Iran and Turkey.

 

She said that she trys her best to depict Iranian culture in her paintings.

 

The talented and visionary painter Suleyman Sahin grew up as a shepherd. Hence he is called “cobban ressam” (shepherd painter). 

 

Entitled “Peace and Friendship in the World”, the exhibit runs until February 26.

 

SB/YAW

END 

Iranian director plans to stage “Molly Sweeney” in Ireland

February 19, 2013, 7:45 am

≫ Next: Iran responds to “Closed Curtain” win at Berlinale

≪ Previous: Ankara center showcases works by Iranian, Turkish painters

$

0

0

TEHRAN -- Iranian director Shima Farahmand plans to stage “Molly Sweeney” in Ireland, the homeland of the writer of the play, Brien Friel.

 

Farahmand and Hamid Ehya, who translated the play into Persian, have held talks with some relevant Irish officials to perform it in the country.  

 

“Molly Sweeney” is currently on stage at the Entezami Hall of the Iranshahr Theater Complex in Tehran.

 

“Due the popularity of this play in Ireland, we will try our best to give performances in that country,” Farahmand said in press release on Tuesday.

 

She said that the play has been warmly received by the theatergoers so that it has been extended for four day until February 22.

 

“Molly Sweeney” is a two-act play, which is about its title character, Molly, a woman blind since infancy, who undergoes an operation to restore her sight.

 

The play tells Molly’s story through monologues by three characters, in this case Molly, her husband Frank, and her surgeon, Mr. Rice.

 

Another of Freil’s plays “Dancing at Lughnasa” has recently translated into Persian.

 

Mohsen Bahrami, Abuzar Saedi and Donya Nasr star in the play.

 

SB/YAW

END