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Anthology of world love poems appears in Persian

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TEHRAN -- An anthology of love poems by four poets from different part of the world has recently been published in Persian in Tehran.
 
“Love Poems of the World”, which consists of four volumes, was unveiled during a ceremony, which was held by publisher Sarzamin Ahurai Press at Tehran’s Resaneh Cultural Center on Monday.  
 
The collection comprises selections from American poet Richard Brautigan’s “It’s Raining in Love”, which have been translated into Persian by Alireza Behnam. 
 
Reza Ameri has also translated poems from “My Love (Do Not Ask Me)” by Syrian writer Nizar Qabbani for the anthology. 
 
In addition, poems from “I Only Love You” by Erich Fried and “Love with Wooden Legs” by Gunter Grass both from German literature have been selected for the collection. Ali Abdollahi has translated the poems. 
 
Sarzamin Ahurai Press Managing Director Majid Zarghami commissioned the translators to render the works into Persian, Behnam said during the ceremony. 
 
One of the main missions of the publisher in the translation project is to acquaint people with poetry, he added.
 
Ameri also recited a poem by Qabbani and also talked about the popularity of poet in the Arab world.
 
 
Abdollahi said that Grass is widely known as a poet in Iran.
 
Abdollahi has written notes about Grass’s criticism in his poems and his political outlook on the modern world.
 
The ceremony came to an end with a Q&A session in which the translators answered questions posed by the audience.
 
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“Rooster Trademark Paper” competing in Montreal filmfest

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TEHRAN -- The Iranian drama “The Rooster Trademark Paper” is competing at the 16th Montreal International Children’s Film Festival.
 
Directed by Maryam Milani, the film is competing at the festival, which started on March 2 and runs until March 10 in Canada.
 
“The Rooster Trademark Paper” is about the efforts that three children from underprivileged families make to achieve their dreams.
 
Well rooted in Montrealers’ hearts and known as a major festival on the Quebec cultural scene, the Montreal International Children’s Film Festival is also well known abroad. 
 
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Iran completes first phase of mapping of archaeological sites

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TEHRAN -- The first phase of the project to map all of Iran’s archaeological sites has been completed by a team of experts.
 
The map was unveiled during a ceremony at the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) in Tehran on Monday.
 
A total of 45,000 archaeological sites appear on the map, team director Abbas Moqaddam said at the ceremony.
 
He said that the map was drafted based on available information.
 
“However, the team did not have access to specific data, which are kept at some storehouses by certain experts,” he added.
 
“The team began their work in 2009, but in fact, Ezzatollah Negaban (the father of modern Iranian archaeology) should be considered as the founder of this project, which began in 1958,” he stated.
 
Moqaddam said that if the necessary funds are provided, the second phase of mapping Iranian archaeological sites would be completed in 10 years.
 
“The map will be completed in the third phase,” he stated and added, “It will take future generations centuries to complete the third phase.”
 
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New zarih of shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) unveiled in Karbala

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TEHRAN -- The new zarih (outer sarcophagus enclosure) for the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) was unveiled in Karbala during a ceremony on Tuesday.
 
A number of Iranian and Iraqi officials attended the ceremony, the Persian language media outlets announced.
 
A group of Iranian artisans began to dismantle the old zarih on January 11 and completed installing the new one on Monday.
 
Iran’s Center for Reconstruction of Holy Shrines has financed all stages of designing and building the zarih.
 
The center spent about 140 billion rials (about $11.5 million) to make the zarih.
 
The zarih, which weighs over 12 tons, is made of gold, silver, copper, steel, and teakwood. The latest techniques were used in lighting the structure. In addition, crystals with the ability to change the color of the lighting have been installed inside it.
 
Prominent Iranian miniaturist Mahmud Farshchian was commissioned by the Zarih-making Board of Trustees in Qom in 2007 to design the zarih. He completed the design in March 2011.
 
Afterwards, a large group of Iranian artists and artisans in the city of Qom was hired to build it.
 
The construction was put on display at the Masumieh Seminary in Qom after its completion on September 27, 2012.
 
People in the city bid a fond farewell to the zarih on November 26 and afterwards it began a tour across Iran and then arrived in Karbala, Iraq on December 13.
 
People made cash and gold offerings in every city in which zarih arrived.
 
The old zarih is scheduled to be transferred to Iran to be put on display at the Astan-e Qods Razavi Library and Museum in Mashhad.
 
The zarih had been made by artisans from the Zaydi sect in India about 70 years ago.
 
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Iranian novel “I Love Manchester United” being translated into Turkish

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TEHRAN -- Behruz Deyjurian is translating “I Love Manchester United”, a Persian novel by Mehdi Yazdani-Khorram, into Turkish.
 
The translation of the book will be completed in summer and it will be published in Istanbul, Yazdani-Khorram mentioned in a press release on Wednesday.
 
The book, which was released by Cheshmeh Publications in 2012 in Iran, was warmly welcomed in Iran.
 
“I Love Manchester United” will also appear in English and Italian in the near future following an agreement signed by Ponte 33 Publications in Italy and Cheshmeh Publications.
 
The story of the novel is set in the political atmosphere of Iran during the early years of the 2000s. The author also gives the readers flashbacks to the Iran of the 1940s.
 
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Iranian Sufi music to echo at Austrian festival

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TEHRAN -- Iranian Sufi music ensemble Shams will be performing at Imago Dei, an Easter festival that is held annually in Krems, Austria in March and April.
 
The band’s concert entitled “Dance of Creation” will be performed on March 9.
 
“This performance will be a repetition of our concerts held in Tehran in (August) 2008 in commemoration of Rumi,” band leader Keikhosro Purnazeri said in press release on Wednesday.
 
A group of dervishes will also perform sama, the Sufi ecstatic dance, he added.
 
Tambura and barbat virtuoso Tahmures Purnazeri, and tambura and kamancheh virtuoso Sohrab Pournazeri, and Najmeh Tajadod will also accompany the band as vocalist during the concert.
 
Among the band members are also Hamidreza Taqavi, Kaveh Gerayeli, Shahab Paranj, Hossein Zahavi, Khorshid Dadbeh, and Amirhossein Hassaninia.
 
Shams always selects poems by Persian mystic and poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi (1207-1273) for its performances.
 
The focus of this year’s Imago Dei festival will be on creation myths, the tales of the beginning and the origin of all existence, organizers announced.
 
The group has written a quotation from Rumi on the festival’s website which reads, “In the waters of purity, I melted like salt. Neither blasphemy, nor faith, nor conviction, nor doubt remained. In the center of my heart a star has appeared. And all the seven heavens have become lost in it.”  
 
The festival will be held at the medieval Klangraum Krems Minoritenkirche and at the Kolomani Hall of Stift Melk.
 
Bands from Latvia, the Netherlands, Austria, India, and
Belgium will also perform during the event.
 
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“A Cube of Sugar” to compete in Spanish festival

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TEHRAN -- The Iranian family drama “A Cube of Sugar” by Reza Mirkarimi will compete in the 4th Ibn Arabi International Film Festival (IBAFF) that will be held in Murcia, Spain from March 4 to 9.
 
In “A Cube of Sugar”, members of a large family come together in a happy friendly atmosphere to make preparations for their youngest sister’s engagement party. However, a series of bad news ruins everything planned.
 
Negar Javaherian, Rima Raminfar, Saeid Pursamimi, Parivash Nazarieh, Reza Kianian and Hedayat Hashemi are the A-list cast of the film.
 
The World-renowned Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami will also hold a series of workshops, which are composed of theoretical and practical sessions, on the sidelines of the festival.
 
The festival is named after the great Andalusian philosopher, poet and mystic, Ibn Arabi, who was born in Murcia in 1165.
 
Mirkarimi’s “A Cube of Sugar” and “So Close, So Far” will also go on screen at the Cine Doré Hall in Madrid on March 12 and 13.
 
Cine Doré is the cinema hall of Filmoteca Española (Spanish Cinemathèque), whose aim is to restore, investigate and conserve the film heritage of Spain and its diffusion. 
 
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Iran’s “Taboor” to compete in Tribeca festival

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TEHRAN -- The award-winning Iranian film “Taboor” will compete in the 12th Tribeca Film Festival, which will be held in New York City from April 17 to 28.
 
Directed by Vahid Vakilifar, the film is about a man who seeks to protect his hypersensitive body from a daily rise in temperature caused by pervasive electromagnetic waves.
 
The film will go on screen at the Viewpoints section of the festival, which will focus on stories told from distinctly male and female perspectives.
 
The movie received the First Special Mention at the 53rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Athens, Greece in November 2012
 
The French company DreamLab Films is the distributor of this film.
 
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55 new sculptures to embellish Tehran for Iranian New Year

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TEHRAN -- Fifty-five new sculptures will embellish Tehran for the Iranian New Year, which will begin on March 21 this year.
 
The sculptures have been selected from among the works that were submitted to Tehran Municipality’s Beautification Organization following a call for creating sculptures on the theme of Noruz, the celebration for the Iranian New Year, the organization announced in press release on Thursday.
 
A number of works have also been chosen from the submissions to the 3rd Urban Sculpture Biennial, which was held in Tehran in December 2012 and January 2013.
 
The organization has also assigned groups of artists to paint egg-shaped sculptures with colorful designs in some of Tehran’s parks during a two-day festival to recollect the delightful tradition of painting eggs before Noruz.
 
The festival will be held at the parks of Noruz, Shahr and Parvaz on March 14 and 15.
 
The tradition of painting eggs before Noruz has almost completely sunk into oblivion over the past few decades.
 
Iranian people used to paint eggs with colorful designs and to add them to the Haft Seen ritual table setting or decoration. The eggs were given to children visiting their relatives’ houses.
 
However, setting the Haft Seen decoration is still somewhat common among the Iranians. The Haft Seen decoration includes seven items that begin with the Persian letter “seen” which is pronounced in the same way as “s” in English. They include sib (apple), samanu (a sweet pudding made from wheat sprouts), seer (garlic), sekkeh (coins), sumac (a spice), serkeh (vinegar) and sabzeh (green sprouted seeds).
 
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What’s in art galleries

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Floral design
 
Floral arrangements created from dried rose blooms and wild rue are on display in an exhibition at the Mess-Negar Gallery.
 
The floral arrangements have been created Shirin Agah for the exhibit, which comes to an end this evening.
 
Wild rue (Esfand) is a common weed found in Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, Pakistan and the surrounding areas. Its botanical name is Peganum harmala. Later Greek authors refer to it as persaia botane.
 
Mess-Negar Gallery located at No. 5 in the Park Prince Building on Molla Sadra Highway.
 
Painting
 
* The Shokuh Gallery is currently playing host to an exhibition which displays a century of Iranian painting.
 
The exhibit showcases works by Marco Gregorian, Jazeh Tabatabaii, Abbas Katuzian, Ali-Akbar Sanati, Jafar Ruhbakhsh, Mohammad-Ali Tarqqijah and Jamaleddin Khorraminejad.
 
In addition, works by Paraviz Kalantari, Ali-Akbar Sadeqi, Ali Shirazi Bahmand Niku and Behnush Forutan, and Mohammad Tabatabaii are on display at the exhibition, which runs until March 20.
 
The gallery is located at 19 Amir Nuri Alley, North Salimi St., Andarzgu Blvd.
 
Cartoon
 
* Works by veteran cartoonist Kambiz Derambakhsh are currently on display in an exhibition at the Seyhun Gallery.
 
The gallery has organized the show to raise funds for cancer patients.
 
The exhibit runs until March 13 at the gallery located at 11 Fourth Alley, off Vozara St.
 
Serigraph
 
* A collection serigraphs of monuments by Keyvan Khosravani is currently on show in an exhibition at the Henna Gallery.
 
The exhibit continues until March 13 at the gallery that can be found at 19 Biglarpur Sharqi, off Jahantab St. in the Qeitarieh neighborhood.
 
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Russian animation wins grand prize at Tehran festival

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TEHRAN -- The Russian animation “Out of Play” by Ivan Maximov won the grand prize at the 8th Tehran International Animation Festival.
 
The winners of the festival, which is held annually by the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), were announced during a ceremony in Tehran on Thursday.
 
“Out of Play” is about the relationships between three obsolete toys, which are abandoned in an attic.
 
The Special Jury Award of the festival went to the French director Svetlana Filippova for the animation “Where Dogs Die”.
 
Isabel Herguera from Spain, Dragan Milinkovic Fimon from Serbia, Priit Pärn from Estonia, Juan Pablo Zaramella from Argentia and Amir-Mohammad Dehestani from Iran are the members of the international jury of the festival.
 
“Children Who Chase Lost Voices” by Makoto Shinkai from Japan won the Best Feature Animation Award.
 
The Best TV Animation Award of this section went to “Welcome to Bric and Brac” directed by Amandine Gallerand and Matthieu Chavallier from France.
 
“Pretty Kitty’s Flower” by Maria Horváth from Hungary won the Best Children’s Animation Award.
 
Directed by Bahram Azimi, “Tehran 2121” was crowned the best animation in the national section.
 
“Tehran 2121” is about the past and present of a 160-year-old man. 
 
The story of this animation takes place in the year 2121, when robots live alongside people who live for over 160 years due to progress in medical science.
 
Shahid Behnam Hall, Kanun Theater, Ghadir Hall and the Felestin Cinema in Tehran will be screening the entries during the festival, which was held from March 3 to 7.
 
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Works by Iranian female painters on display at Malaysian exhibit

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TEHRAN – Works of a number of Iranian painters have been showcased at Kuala Lumpur’s Artmalaysia Gallery in an exhibition which is dedicated to female artists from around the world.
 
Entitled “My Day”, the four-day exhibition has been organized by the gallery to commemorate International Women’s Day.
 
Among the Iranian painters are Mina Hedayat, Elnaz Rostami, Sakineh Zmanai, Zahra Afzali, Fatemeh Mofarahi, Atsa Zolqadri, Mahjubeh Famori, Gelareh Lavaei and Hanieh Mohammad-Baqer.
 
The showcase, which comes to an end this evening, aims to celebrate the significant contributions of women to today’s lives through the power of art, as a picture easily speaks a thousand words.
 
Forty-six female painters from Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, the Netherlands, South Africa, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Denmark are displaying their works at the exhibition. 
 
International Women’s Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women’s Day, is commemorated on March 8 every year. 
 
In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women’s economic, political and social achievements. 
 
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Persian translation of Italian novel “Nocturne Voyager” published

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TEHRAN -- The Persian translation of the Italian novel “Nocturne Voyager” has recently been published in Tehran 
 
This is first time a work by the Italian writer Maurizio Maggiani was published in Iran.
 
Translated by Asmar Musavinia, the novel is about a zoologist who travelled to a desert in Algeria. 
 
He recounted the memories of the Balkan wars, where he sojourned for his research for the Algerians.
 
The book, which is a labyrinthine narration of war and life, was released by the Afsun-e Khial Publications.
 
Musavinia has previously translated into Persian as “Serafino Gubbio’s Journals” by Italian writer Luigi Pirandello.
 
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Five new films to hit Iranian theaters during Noruz holidays

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TEHRAN -- Five new Iranian films, mostly family dramas, are scheduled to be screened at Iranian theaters during the holidays of Noruz, Iranian New Year celebration which will begin on March 21 this year.
 
The films are “The Rule of Accident”, “The Painting Pool”, “Scandal”, “Mr. Alef” and “Tehran 2121”.
 
Directed by Behnam Behzadi, the film “The Rule of Accident” is about the relationship between the members of a theater troupe, which is rehearsing for a play, and their parents.
 
It won the Crystal Simorgh for best film in the international section of the 31st Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran in February.
 
Director Maziar Miri’s “The Painting Pool” is about physically challenged parents who face a problem with their only son.
 
The film and Puran Derakhshandeh’s social drama “Hush… Girls Don’t Scream” also shared the Crystal Simorgh for Audience Favorite Film at the Fajr festival.
 
Iran’s first 3D film “Mr. Alef” tells the story of Mr. Adib, a columnist who learns that he will die a few days later. 
 
The comedy drama premiered at Fajr, but, despite its director Ali Atashani’s expectations, it did not win acclaim at the event.
 
“Scandal” is Masud Dehnamaki’s latest film, which, he believes challenges Iran’s official view on Muslim clerics. 
 
It is about Haji Yusef, a cleric living among the ordinary people in a poor district of Tehran. He meets Afsaneh, an infamous woman, who is on the verge of complete moral corruption. Haji Yusef decides to help Afsaneh, but he faces some problems.
 
The film only brought Amir Eskandari a Crystal Simorgh for best makeup artist at Fajr.
 
“Tehran 2121”, an animated film by director Bahram Azimi, is about the past and present of a 160-year-old man. 
 
The story of this animation takes place in the year 2121, when robots live along with people who live for over 160 years due to progress in medical science.
 
Using the rotoscoping technique, Azimi made the animation with an all-star cast.
 
Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame, for use in animated films.
 
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David Mamet’s “Cryptogram” deciphered at Tehran gallery

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TEHRAN – Tehran’s Khark Gallery is playing host to a theater troupe performing American playwright David Mamet’s “Cryptogram”.
 
“We chose Khark, because the stage set of the gallery is well suited for performing the play,” director/actor Ali Baqeri said in press release on Saturday.
 
He referred to the difficulties Iranian troupes have in finding a theater in which to perform their plays and added, “Moreover, we were not certain whether we could perform the play in a theater or not.”
 
Shayan Javaherian and Fatemeh Fakhraii also star in the play.
 
“The Cryptogram” is a 1995 play that concerns the moment when childhood is lost. 
 
The story of the play is set in 1959 on the night before a young boy is to go on a camping trip with his father.
 
The play will be performing until March 18. The gallery is located at 61 Khark St., south of Enqelab Ave.
 
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Works by Iranian artists adorn Dubai gallery

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TEHRAN -- Artworks by the Iranian artists Ali Shirazi and Parviz Kalantari are currently on display in an exhibition at the Rira Gallery in Dubai.
 
Entitled “Lines & Links”, the exhibit features 12 paintings by Kalantari along with seven recent calligraphic paintings by Shirazi.
 
This is first time the works have been shown in an exhibition, the gallery announce on its website. 
 
Kalantari’s paintings focus on the architectural history of the Islamic world while Shirazi illuminates the aesthetics of language through the beautification of traditional Islamic calligraphy.
 
Rira Gallery aims to provide and strengthen a platform for artists in Iran to exhibit their works regionally and internationally.
 
The exhibit, which started on February 28, runs for a month.
 
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Deceased artists, literati commemorated in Tehran

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TEHRAN -- A group of Iranian artists and literati came together in a meeting in Tehran on Saturday to pay homage their colleagues who passed away over the past year.
 
Seventy-nine artists and literati were commemorated during the meeting, which was organized by the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF).
 
“Nowadays, the fever of granting official medals and orders to artists and literati has increased,” IAF Managing Director Majid Sarsangi said in a short speech at the ceremony.
 
“This is highly commendable, but artists need the officials’ regard rather than their medals or orders. They need to live without concern over their professions, their lives, or their health,” he added.
 
He said that a number of the deceased artists and literati had hard lives.
 
Several other lectures were also arranged for the meeting.
 
“I often tell the young artists not to pursue art for wealth, because there are many easier ways to make money,” veteran filmmaker Khosro Sinaii said.
 
“I also tell them, ‘leave art if you want to gain fame via art, because the fame will turn into trouble after a short time. But, if you want the elevation of soul, select art,’” he added.
 
“After their death, artists leave their works to keep life beautiful and to refresh the human being,” graphic designer Ebrahim Haqiqi said.
 
“So, let’s think of the artists when they are still alive,” he added.
 
The ceremony went on with a speech by Iranian Theater Forum Managing Director Iraj Raad lamenting the officials’ empty promise of establishing a center to offer medical services to artists and literati at lower price.
 
The artists planted a number of trees in the courtyard of the IAF in memory of their colleagues at the end of the ceremony.
 
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Tamishan beach to enjoy Iran’s first outdoor concert since Islamic Revolution

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TEHRAN -- The sandy Tamishan beach on the Caspian Sea is scheduled to host Iran’s first outdoor concert since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
 
The concert will be performed by Niush, an Iranian rock band led by Arash Qahramanlu, on a beach which is located near the towns of Izadshahr and Nur in Mazandaran Province on March 30, producer Amir-Abbas Naderan said in a press release on Monday.
 
“The band plans to perform a fusion of rock and traditional Iranian music during the concert in order to attract the interest of the modern generation and also to familiarize them with the Persian literature and music,” he added.
 
Naderan said that since the concert will be held in one of Iran’s major tourist resorts during Noruz, the Iranian New Year celebration which will begin on March 21 this year, the concert is expected to be warmly welcomed.
 
Numerous outdoor concerts were performed on the beaches of the Caspian Sea, mostly in Ramsar, during the reign of Iran’s last monarch, Mohmmad Reza Pahlavi, before the victory of Islamic Revolution.
 
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Iranian screenwriter inspired by Woody Allen for “Bani and Nani”

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TEHRAN -- Iranian screenwriter Mohsen Mirzakhani said that the satire in Woody Allen’s works was a source of inspiration for him to write “Bani and Nani”, an Iranian animated film series.
 
“I do love satire. For me the biggest tragedy of life is considered as satire and I was also influenced by Woody Allen in some other works,” he told the Persian service of ISNA on Monday.
 
Directed by Mohammadreza Najafi-Emami and Behtash Sanaii, the series is currently being broadcast every night from Pooya, an Iranian satellite channel that is dedicated to showing animations.
 
The 52-episode series tells the story of Bani and Nani, two satirical characters, in different social situations. 
 
“None of the characters are completely good or evil, but we try to show different aspects of human character in various situations,” he said.
 
Peyman Bodaghi, Morteza Yari, Nasser Najafian, Saman Ghiasvand, Amin Sadeqvand and Vahid Parhizkar are the animators of the series.
 
The animation aims to promote urban life and civilized social attitudes in the form of satirical adventures of two characters, Najafi-Emami previously said in an interview.
 
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“A Cube of Sugar” crowned best film at Spanish fest

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TEHRAN -- The Iranian family drama “A Cube of Sugar” has been picked as the best feature film at the 4th Ibn Arabi International Film Festival (IBAFF) in Murcia, Spain. 
 
In “A Cube of Sugar”, members of a large family come together in a happy friendly atmosphere to make preparations for their youngest sister’s engagement party. However, a series of bad news ruins everything planned.
 
Negar Javaherian, Rima Raminfar, Saeid Pursamimi, Parivash Nazarieh, Reza Kianian and Hedayat Hashemi are the A-list cast of the film.
 
World-renowned Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami also held a series of workshops, which are composed of theoretical and practical sessions, on the sidelines of the festival.
 
The festival is named after the great Andalusian philosopher, poet and mystic, Ibn Arabi, who was born in Murcia in 1165.
 
Mirkarimi’s “A Cube of Sugar” and “So Close, So Far” will also go on screen at the Cine Doré Hall in Madrid on March 12 and 13.
 
“The Saharawi Master” by Nicolas Muñoz from Argentina was selected as the best documentary at the festival.
 
The festival was held from March 4 to 9.
 
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