Iranian films line up for Swedish festival

January 21, 2014, 8:12 am

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TEHRAN -- Three Iranian movies will be competing in the 37th Goteborg International Film Festival, which is scheduled to be held in the Swedish city from January 24 to February 3.

 

“Acrid” directed by Kiarash Asadizadeh, “Trapped” by Parviz Shahbazi and “Bending the Rules” by Behnam Behzadi will be screened in the Five Continents section of the event.

 

“Acrid” depicts the inner feelings of different couples experiencing marital difficulties ranging from disharmonies to disloyalties.

 

“Trapped” tells the story of Nazanin, who moves to Tehran to study medicine, but she finds out that there is no room for her in the dormitory. She solves the problem by moving in with vivacious shop girl Sahar.

Although the two are unlikely companions, Sahar coerces Nazanin into joining her circle of friends. When Sahar ends up in trouble, Nazanin is drawn into the complex web of debt and deceit surrounding her roommate.

 

“Bending the Rules” is about an amateur Iranian theater company, which gets a chance to perform abroad. While the rest of the group keeps the imminent trip secret, the star of the play, Shahrzad, tells her father. He doesn’t want her to leave and a battle for her passport ensues, affecting the whole group.

 

This film has received several accolades at international events.

 

It won the special jury awards at the 62nd International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg in Germany in Novembers and at the 26th Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2013.

 

“Bending the Rules” also was crowned best film in the international section of the 31st Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran in February 2013.

 

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Another translation of “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” appears in Persian

January 22, 2014, 8:30 am

≫ Next: Iran to hold cultural festival in Tunisia

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TEHRAN – Another Persian translation of “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” by a philosophical novel by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has appeared in Iran.

 

Translated by Qoli Khayyat, the book was published by the Negah company.

 

Composed in four parts between 1883 and 1885, much of “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” deals with ideas such as the “eternal recurrence of the same”.

 

Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most influential philosophers of the nineteenth century. His works have had their major impact in the twentieth century, and that impact has been astonishingly widespread and varied. 

 

His choice of poetic prose rather than rigorous dialectic has sometimes caused him to be called no philosopher at all; yet his literary style has attracted readers who would not have been drawn to a Kant or a Hegel. 

 

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Iran to hold cultural festival in Tunisia

January 22, 2014, 8:30 am

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TEHRAN – Tunis will host an Iranian cultural festival in early February.

 

The festival has been organized by the Iranian cultural attaché’s office in the Tunisian capital in line with the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations (February 1-11), which are held annually in Iran to commemorat the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

 

Persian calligraphy works, handicrafts and photos will be put on show at exhibitions during the festival. 

 

In addition, a number of Iranian ensembles will perform concerts at the event.

 

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Mannheim officials send message to theater aficionados in Iran

January 22, 2014, 8:34 am

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TEHRAN -- National Theater of Mannheim Director Burkhard C. Kosminski and Lord Mayor of Mannheim Peter Kurz have sent a message to theater aficionados at the 32nd Fajr International Theater Festival.

 

The message has been sent to promote “The House of Bernarda Alba”, a German entry to the festival, the Persian service of ILNA reported on Wednesday.

 

A troupe led by director Calixto Bieito of the National Theater of Mannheim performs “The House of Bernarda Alba” written by the Spanish dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca at the Fajr festival. 

 

Kosminski and Kurz said that it is a great honor that a production from the National Theater of Mannheim was invited to the Fajr festival.

 

They expressed hope that the audience would enjoy the performance.

 

“The House of Bernarda Alba” was staged at Tehran’s City Theater Complex on Wednesday. The troupe also performed the play during the early days of the festival, which opened on January 14 and runs until February 1.

 

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CHTHO Director Mohammad-Ali Najafi visiting FITUR

January 22, 2014, 8:34 am

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TEHRAN – The director of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) has traveled to Spain to visit the International Tourism Trade Fair -- FITUR 2014, which opened in Madrid on Wednesday.

 

Mohammad-Ali Najafi, at the head of a delegation, arrived in Spain on Tuesday to promote Iranian tourism at the 34th edition of FITUR, which runs until January 26.

 

He is also scheduled to hold talks with the Spanish Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism Jose Manuel Soria Lopez during his sojourn in the Spanish capital.

 

Najafi also has plans to meet the Prime Minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy Brey and hold talks with Taleb Rifai, the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) during his stay.

 

Moreover, Najafi and his companions are scheduled to visit Cordoba, a city in Andalusia in southern Spain, once the capital of an Islamic caliphate.

 

Also on Wednesday, Najafi attended the UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism ceremony.

 

The UNWTO Knowledge Network Symposium is due to take place today.

 

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“Camp X-Ray” star will never play Iranian characters in foreign projects

January 22, 2014, 8:35 am

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TEHRAN -- Iranian star of “Camp X-Ray” Peyman Moadi has stated that he will never play an Iranian character in any foreign film project.

 

Moadi portrays Ali, a Tunisian man who has been imprisoned by mistake at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, in “Camp X-Ray”, Peter Sattler’s directorial debut that was released in the United States on January 17.  

 

“I will never play an Iranian character outside of my country,” Moadi told the Persian service of ISNA on Tuesday.

 

“I have always refused to play such a character, unless the role depicts a good guy,” he added.

 

He said that working in the American cinema has never been that attractive for him.

 

“In my opinion, ‘A Separation’ is still the best film of the past few years. I was selected for ‘Camp X-Ray’ due to my appearance in ‘A Separation’,” Moadi stated.

 

“I still prefer to work with the great Iranian filmmakers, by whose works I fell in love with cinema,” he added.

 

Asked whether “Camp X-Ray” has been made in a manner that it could receive approval of Iranian cultural officials for screening within the country, he said, “If the film could not premiere in Iran, I would never have acted in it, because the Iranian people are more important to me than people in any other place.”

 

Starring Moadi, “Stories” directed by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and “Melbourne” by Nima Javidi will premiere at the 32nd Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran in February.

 

Moadi is mostly known for his excellent performances in Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning “A Separation”. 

 

He made his directorial debut with “The Snow on the Pines” in Iran in 2012. He is currently rehearsing with director Homayun Ghanizadeh’s troupe for “Waiting for Godot”, which will be staged at Tehran’s City Theater Complex in February.

 

Moadi is scheduled to costar with Morgan Freeman and Clive Owen in Japanese director Kazuaki Kiriya’s action adventure “The Last Knights”, which is in the postproduction stage.

 

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“Pictures from Gihane” highlights Italian cultural night in Tehran

January 24, 2014, 7:41 am

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TEHRAN – Tehran’s Iranshahr Theater Complex hosted an Italian troupe performing “Pictures from Gihane” as part of a program for an Italian cultural night on Thursday.

 

Italian Ambassador Luca Giansanti also attended the performance, which was directed by Claudia Sorace, the complex announced in a press release on Friday.

 

The Italian cultural night event was arranged by organizers of the 32nd Fajr International Film Festival, which is currently underway in Tehran.

 

Written by Riccardo Fazi on the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the play is competing in the international section of the festival.

 

Speaking at the ceremony, the ambassador regarded the ceremony as a good example of the deep cultural relations between the people of Iran and Italy.

 

He said that Italian culture is respected in such ceremonies and has been highlighted by the Italian troupes in Iran.

 

About 150 plays from Iran and 11 other countries are competing in the festival, which opened on January 14 and will run until February 1.

 

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Tehran meeting to mull over adding more countries to Noruz file in UNESCO

January 24, 2014, 7:46 am

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TEHRAN – The representatives from the seven countries that registered the Noruz celebration on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009 will come together today in Tehran to study adding Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan to the Noruz file at UNESCO.

 

Noruz, the ancient celebration of the Iranian New Year that begins on the first day of spring, was registered on the UNESCO list as a common element from Iran, Azerbaijan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.

 

Documents prepared by the three countries will be discussed during the three-day meeting in Tehran, Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO)’s Department for Registration of Natural, Historical and Intangible Heritage Director Farhad Nazari told the Persian service of MNA on Friday.

 

Officials from the countries are scheduled to attend a Noruz festival, which will be held in the Afghan capital Kabul in March.

 

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“Saddam” to appear on stage in Tehran

January 24, 2014, 7:46 am

≫ Next: Cinematographer Maziar Partow dies at 81

≪ Previous: Tehran meeting to mull over adding more countries to Noruz file in UNESCO

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TEHRAN – The celebrated Iranian director Mohammad Rahmanian will stage a play in Tehran on the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

 

Entitled “Saddam”, the play is on his life, his execution and its aftermath.

 

“The play a large project and it will go on stage with 80 actors probably in autumn,” Rahmainian told the Persian service of ISNA.

 

“I planned to stage the play four years ago but it was not actualized. As the play is a big budget project, we need sponsors from the private sector,” he added.

 

He said that some state organizations announced their support for staging the play. However, he prefers the private sector’s sponsorship.

 

“I don’t want any state or political issues to be imposed on the play,” he said.

 

The members of the cast for the play will be the actors, which have previously worked with Rahmanian.

 

Rahmanian is scheduled to stage “Ballad of Aurash” at the 32nd Fajr International Theater Festival, which is currently underway in Tehran. 

 

His troupe also plans to perform “Last Days of Esfand” in mid March at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall.

 

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Cinematographer Maziar Partow dies at 81

January 24, 2014, 7:47 am

≫ Next: Producer calls his project on Iran hostage crisis “a blockbuster”

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TEHRAN – The veteran Iranian cinematographer Maziar Partow died on Wednesday. He was 81.

 

Partow, who lived in California, U.S. over the past six years, had been suffering from heart disease for many years.

 

He will be buried in California, his niece Vishka Asayesh told the Persian service of ISNA.

 

He directed a few movies and worked as a film editor in several projects.

 

As a cinematographer, Partow collaborated in many films including “Snowman” by Davud Mirbaqeri, “The Magical Journey” by Abolhassan Davudi, “Mirza Noruz’s Shoes” by Mohammad Motevaselani, and “Qeisar” by Masud Kimiaii.

 

The Iranian House of Cinema plans to hold a commemoration for Partow in Tehran.
 

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Producer calls his project on Iran hostage crisis “a blockbuster”

January 24, 2014, 7:48 am

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TEHRAN -- Iranian producer Jamal Sadatian said that his film project on the Iranian occupation of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979 will be “a blockbuster”.

 

“Sixty-six foreign actors – as many as the U.S. hostages held in Iran – will be hired for the project,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday.

 

He added that the project will be produced “independently by the private sector.”

 

Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, an Iranian political activist and politician who was among the group of revolutionary Iranian students that took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, is acting as an advisor for the project.

 

Asgharzadeh said that the film will be “a logical review of contemporary history.”

 

“The film will also examine the mistakes of the students, of which I was one,” he added. 

 

He added that the occupation of the U.S. embassy will never be reviewed as a flawless event.

 

Sadatian previously denied that the project is supposed to be a response to Ben Affleck’s Iran hostage drama “Argo”, which was officially viewed as an ‘anti-Iranian’ film after it premiered in the U.S. in October 2012.

 

“In this moderate atmosphere now dominating Iran’s foreign relations, I hope this film will help public opinion in Iran and that the world will be enlightened about this event,” Sadatian stated at the press conference.

 

“All doors were closed to dialogue among the politicians in the former administration, but under (president) Hassan Rouhani it seems dialogue can be accomplished more easily. Thus we selected this period in which to produce the film,” he added.

 

So far, no title has been selected for the project. 

 

The premiere of “Argo” stirred cries of outrage from Iranian executives in 2012.

 

Iran’s Art Bureau announced in January 2013 that it planned to produce a movie entitled “The General Staff” in response to “Argo”.

 

In addition, former officials of the Iran Cinema Organization (ICO) hired renowned French lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre in March to file a lawsuit against the producer and director of “Argo”, which they claimed promotes Iranophobia.

 

However, the new director of the ICO said on September 2013 that there is no contract between his organization and Coutant-Peyre and that the organization would never pursue the lawsuit.

 

MMS/YAW

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3 decades of art show posters on display at Tehran museum

January 25, 2014, 8:38 am

≫ Next: Tehran hosts Fajr Theater Market

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TEHRAN – The Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum in Tehran is currently hosting an exhibition of posters that were created for Iranian art shows and festivals in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. 

 

Ninety-eight works by Mohammad Ehsaii, Kamran Hosseini, Ebrahim Haqiqi, Farshid Mesqali, Morteza Momayyez, Ali Vazirian, several other graphic designers have put on display at the exhibit entitled “Revisit”.

 

All the works have been published in a book by the Aban Company.

 

The exhibit runs until January 29 at the museum, which can be found at 53 Esfandiar Blvd., off Vali-e Asr Ave.

 

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Tehran hosts Fajr Theater Market

January 25, 2014, 8:39 am

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TEHRAN – The Fajr Theater Market was held on the sidelines of the 32nd Fajr International Theater Festival at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on Friday and Saturday.

 

A number Iranian troupes and foreign companies promoted their latest works during the event. 

 

Adonai, Anu, Max, Quantum, Titowak, Wrong, Crazy Body, WE, Neqab and Noruz-e Honar were among those Iranian groups participated in the market.

 

Groups stage artists and academics from Canada, Armenia and Georgia visited the market.

 

About 150 plays from Iran and 11 other countries are competing in the festival, which opened on January 14 and will run until February 1.

 

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Italian culture minister to visit Bam Citadel

January 25, 2014, 8:39 am

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TEHRAN – The Italian Minister of Culture, Massimo Bray, is scheduled to visit the city of Bam and its historical citadel in the central Iranian province of Kerman this week.

 

Bray met the Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Ali Jannati, in Tehran on Saturday and they discussed issues of music, cinema, theater, books and art, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Saturday.

 

Jannati said that Italy has had a major role in the reconstruction process of Bam and its citadel.

 

Bray also expressed hope that culture will help both countries develop their relations in all fields.

 

Bray also has plans to visit several art and cultural centers, museums and palaces during his short stay.

 

The city of Bam and its cultural landscape were registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2004. At the same time, the historical complex was added to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger, due to the severe damage to the city and its historical citadel caused by a devastating earthquake in December 2003.

 

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Afghanistan Publishers Union to establish bookstore in Tehran

January 25, 2014, 8:40 am

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TEHRAN – The Afghanistan Publishers Union has plans to establish a bookstore in Tehran to sell Afghan books in the coming months.

 

About 80 percent of the books in Afghanistan are currently being published in Iran, since both countries enjoy the same language, Union Head Ajmal Azem told the Persian service of IRNA on Saturday.

 

Azem who is in Iran for further collaboration with Iran, said that Iranian authors Ali Shariati, Morteza Motahhari and Badiozzaman Foruzanfar are among the most famous authors in Afghanistan.

 

He also asked for more collaboration between Iranian and Afghan publishers 

 

“Afghanistan makes use of Iranian books in various fields of literature, history and psychology, but not in academics, medicine and engineering, since those books seem to be hard, so we need to publish Afghan books,” he said.

 

He added that 350 members are collaborating with the union, out of which 25 are publishers and the rest are booksellers in Afghanistan.

 

The publication industry is a new industry in Afghanistan, having been established for 10 years. “About 300 to 400 new books are published in Afghanistan every year,” he added.

 

 

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CHTHO director visits president of Spain’s National Heritage agency

January 25, 2014, 8:42 am

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TEHRAN -- The director of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO), Mohammad-Ali Najafi, met the president of Spain’s National Heritage agency, Jose Rodriguez-Spiteri, on Friday.

 

Najafi was fully briefed on the tasks of the agency and Spanish cultural heritage during the meeting, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Saturday.

 

With 1500 employees, the agency has been assigned the task of preserving historical sites including eight royal palaces and a number of monuments, Rodriguez-Spiteri said.

 

He said that the historical sites and palaces are maintained by revenues raised from selling tickets to visitors.

 

According to Rodriguez-Spiteri, 70 percent of the revenues are paid to the Spanish government treasury and the rest are allocated to the preservation of the monuments and other current expenditures. 

 

Najafi expressed pleasure in visiting the Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid) and added, “I am sure that you will be successful in your plans in the future.”

 

Najafi traveled to Madrid last week to visit the International Tourism Trade Fair -- FITUR 2014.

 

He also met UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai in the Spanish capital during the visit to Madrid and discussed the expansion of relations with the organization.

 

MMS/YAW

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Iranian poet invited to 23rd World Congress of Poets in Osaka

January 26, 2014, 9:10 am

≫ Next: Iranian cinephiles to enjoy “Cinematic Lessons from Abbas Kiarostami”

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TEHRAN – The self-taught Iranian poetess Khadijeh Shiran has been invited to the 23rd World Congress of Poets to be held in Osaka, Japan running from March 25 to 29.

 

During the congress, poets from around the world come together in friendship and celebration to hear each other’s poems and listen to papers presented about poetry, where medals and golden laurel crowns are bestowed upon the top selected poets, the congress has announced on its website.

 

The 76-year old Shiran has had no academic training, but has composed over 3000 verses. She was born in Isfahan, has had a hard life, was forced to marry a man much older than her own age when she was only nine, and had to move to different cities all these years. However, she was always interested in learning.

 

Several programs have also been arranged on the sidelines of the congress including short tours across the city as well as lectures introducing Japanese culture.

 

The United Poets Laureate International has held the World Congress of Poets every two years since 1969 at various places in the world to promote brotherhood and peace through poetry. 

 

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Iranian cinephiles to enjoy “Cinematic Lessons from Abbas Kiarostami”

January 26, 2014, 9:09 am

≫ Next: Former Iranian culture minister Nasser Minachi dies at 82

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TEHRAN -- “Abbas Kiarostami and Cinematic Lessons”, a book covering the workshops the Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami held in Spain in February 2012, was published in Persian in Tehran last week.

 

The book was compiled by Mahmud Sani and released by the Moin Publication.

 

An English version of the book, which had been compiled by Alireza Lalehfar, was published by the Mhughes Press in 2013 in U.S under the title of “Men at Work: Cinematic Lessons from Abbas Kiarostami”.

 

Kiarostami traveled to Spain in February 2012 to receive the Ibn-Arabi trophy for a lifetime of artistic achievements. It was decided at that time that he would hold a 10 day workshop for 35 young filmmakers who had traveled from all over the world. The book is the notes and lessons Kiarsotami mentioned in his workshops.

 

The book also includes a foreword entitled “Lessons of Refusal” by the renowned French Screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière.

 

Kiarostami has made more than 20 films, including fiction features, educational shorts, feature-length documentaries and a series of films for television.

 

He was awarded the prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for his film “Taste of Cherry”.

 

He has directed “Certified Copy” (2010) and “Like Someone in Love” (2012) outside of Iran. Juliette Binoche received the Palme d’Or for Best Actress at Cannes for her role in the film “Certified Copy”. His Japanese-language film “Like Someone in Love” (2012) was shot in Tokyo.

 

Kiarostami is also a poet, photographer, painter, illustrator and graphic designer.

 

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Former Iranian culture minister Nasser Minachi dies at 82

January 26, 2014, 9:11 am

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TEHRAN – Nasser Minachi, who served as the first Iranian culture minister after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, died on Saturday at the age of 82.

 

He was suffering from heart disease and died at his home in Tehran, a number of Persian news agencies announced on Sunday.

 

He was one of the main founders of Hosseiniyeh Ershad, a non-traditional religious institute in Tehran.

 

Minachi was appointed as the minister of dissemination and tourism, which functioned as a culture minister, in the interim government that was established by Mehdi Bazargan on February 4, 1979.

 

Shortly after, Minachi renamed the ministry the National Guidance Ministry. It was renamed the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance few years later.

 

The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati offered his condolences over the death of Minachi on Sunday.

 

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Iran, Italy agree to establish committee for cultural collaborations

January 26, 2014, 9:12 am

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TEHRAN – The Italian Minister of Culture, Massimo Bray, and Iranian Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Ali Moradkhani have agreed to establish a committee to organize the expansion of cultural collaborations.

 

They both agreed that the committee can study and arrange bilateral programs and help organize joint activities.

 

The decision was made during a visit Massimo Bray paid to Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art on Saturday, Persian news media reported on Sunday.

 

Massimo Bray who is visiting Iran as the head of a cultural delegation talked about his country’s interest in collaboration with Iran in the field of contemporary art. 

 

He said that collaboration between the music museums in Iran and Italy and holding programs to introduce traditional musical instruments can lead to better understanding between the two countries.

 

Moreover, Bray and Italian Ambassador Luca Giansanti in Tehran accompanied with Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) Deputy Director Mehdi Hojjat visited the National Museum of Iran on Sunday.

 

Bray expressed his country’s interest in collaborating with Iran in conducting archaeological projects.

 

Hojjat said that Iran is mostly interested in joint projects with other countries, however Iran is willing to find its own position in archaeological projects in Italy, and the idea was warmly received by the Italian minister.

 

Bray is scheduled to visit the city of Bam and its historical citadel in the central Iranian province of Kerman this week.

 

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