The groundbreaking ceremony for constructing the first Iranian international cinematic sciences faculty in Chabahar Free Trade Zone (CFTZ), Sistan-Baluchestan province was held on Sunday.
Addressing the gathering, CFTZ managing director, Mohammad Taher Baqerizadeh noted that the project is being implemented in the region in view of the talented and enthusiast youth.
“Simanama Institute took the initiative to establish international cinematic college and we have made one hectare of land available for the purpose,“ he said, adding that the project will be completed within two years, if everything goes according to schedule, reported ISNA.
Stating that 80 percent of the students admitted to the faculty are natives of the region, he further said that arts courses will be taught by both Iranian and foreign instructors.
Describing the project as a valuable cultural undertaking, Baqerizadeh added that any initiative taken in the province will have a positive impact on the area.
He further said that first movie hall will be established in the city by next March.
Despite a population of over 200,000 the city does not have a movie theater yet, he said, hoping that the project will also be implemented in cooperation with Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry and other relevant institutes.
Meanwhile, commander of the provincial police Brigadier General Ghaffari said that any cultural move in the region which can help promote religious tenets will certainly have a positive effect on the security of the area.
Cinema is an important discipline whose role should not be ignored, he said, adding that this branch of art is eternal and has numerous audience.

The documentary ’Varazdin Sidewalks’ by Milad Sadr-e Ameli and Arash Naeimian won the special prize at Milan International Film Festival.
According to ISNA, the narrative documentary produced by Rasoul Sadr-e Ameli revolves around the life of the former head coach of Iran’s national soccer team Branko Ivankovich.
Filming of the documentary began in 2005 and was completed concurrent with the 2006 World Football Cup in Germany.
The film was screened in the team sports documentary section of the 25th Milan Sports Films Festival, which ended recently.
In the film section, Abbas Khosrowinejad received honorary badge for his film ’Iman’, which is also about football. Abdorreza Saeednia won an honorary badge for his film ’Running Shadow’.
The Milan International Film Festival or MIFF was founded in 2000 to encourage the work of the independent and experimental filmmaker and provide a world-class international platform to promote their films.
Headed by a distinguished and select group of film makers, MIFF is Italy’s unique nonprofit event established to promote the concept of film as art.

A collection of over 1,000 volumes of historical books in English, French, German and Arabic are maintained at the Central Library of Astan-e Qods Razavi Foundation in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi province.
Public Relations Department of the Libraries, Museums Organization and Documents Center of Astan-e Qods Razavi Foundation in a fax to Iran Daily quoted the director of its Central Library, Mehdi Qeisari-Nik as saying that the collection includes rare books with an antiquity of over 500 years.
Referring to the oldest book in the collection, he said, “It is a translation of the Bible published in 1473 AD, five years after Gutenberg, the inventor of movable type printing, died.“
The official added that another precious item is a 15th century book written in Hebrew, which was donated to the library by the leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in 2006.
“The foundation, as one of the world’s academic venues, holds 78,000 manuscripts, 45,000 lithography and 1,200,000 typography books,“ he added.
Astan-e Qods Foundation is the custodian of the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth infallible Imam of the household of holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Director of Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle has called for boosting cultural and media cooperation with Iran.
Erik Bettermann made the statement in a meeting with the Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Ezzatollah Zarqami on the sidelines of the 44th Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union’s (ABU) General Assembly, reported MNA.
Elaborating on the outcome of the meeting, Bettermann said that discussions help promote free flow of information, adding that lack of information and transparency gives rise to misunderstandings and enmity among nations.
Referring to the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s inaugural speech, he said, “Promoting peace and justice, as mentioned by the president, is a notion which is highly admired by all nations.“
He added that given the large Muslim population in Germany, Deutsche Welle’s policy is to perform with the aim of creating close interaction among different religions.
Zarqami, for his part, expressed readiness to broaden all-out ties with DW and said, “IRIB will place a selection of its documentaries and narratives at the disposal of the German broadcaster to familiarize the German people with Iranian culture and civilization.“
He expressed satisfaction with the presence of European media officials in the event and said that development of media relations serves as a groundwork for ties in other arenas.

Vahid Mousaeian

Documentary film ’Lost Land’ directed by Vahid Mousaeian and produced by the Center for Experimental and Documentary Cinema was nominated for the title of best film at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.
A press release by the Public Relations Department of the center said that awarding ceremony of the festival will be held in Brisbane, Australia on November13 and will aired on CNN on November 17.
Mousaeian, who plans to visit Brisbane early next week, has so far won Crystal Simorgh at Fajr Film Festival, statuette of Cinema House Festival, Silver Plaque of the Best Research of Martyr Avini Award and diploma of honor of the best at Cinema Verite (Haqiqat) Film Festival for this film.

Argentine music group named ’Escolaso Trio’ made up of three guitarists performed for three nights in Tehran.
According to IRNA, the group performed some Argentine urban pieces along with some works by Astor Piazzola, an Argentine tango composer and bandonen player during the program.
The group attracted satisfaction of the music students because of coordination and observance of musicality.
Escolaso Trio performed programs in Roudaki Hall, Karaj Art University and Tehran University of Fine Arts.
Arrangements for the performances were made by the Argentine Embassy, Irano-Argentine Friendship Group as well as Roudaki Artistic Cultural Foundation.

A seminar ’Molla Sadra and Ibn Khaldoun’ was held on Nov. 3 in cooperation with Sadra Islamic Theosophy Foundation and the Tunisian Scientific and Cultural Center Bayt Ul-Hekmah.
Addressing the gathering, head of the foundation, Seyyed Mohammad Khamenei referred to the long standing ties between the foundation and the center and said that Islamic Ummah has played a crucial role in civilization and achievements of mankind, Fars news agency reported.
Muslim nations’ brilliant talents managed to conquer the peaks of science and civilization with the blessings of Islam, he said.
Referring to the effective role of philosophy and philosophic thought in forging affinity and various Muslim and even non-Muslim faiths, he hoped that philosophy would create a strong bond between Islamic nations and faiths.
Tunisian ambassador in Tehran, Hatam Saem, head of Irano-Tunisian Friendship Group as well as university instructors also spoke at the event.

Three distinguished Sweden instrumentalists will perform in the main hall of Niavaran Cultural Complex from November 9-11.
According to a press release by the Public Relations Office of Niavaran Artistic Creations Foundation faxed to Iran Daily, they will play flute, harp and percussion instruments.
The three-man band is scheduled to perform various programs including famous classical compositions, impromptu performance and local pieces.

Exhibition titled ’Manifestations of Iranian Contemporary Arts’ which opened on September 24 has been extended until November 15 in view of the great public interest in the event.
According to a report by the Public Relations Department of Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, contemporary arts is such an extensive field and its manifestations are so diverse that no exhibit can possibly manage to display all or even a major portion of the works in a single event.
The field covers broad topics including identity-oriented searches, spiritual concerns, mystical joys, lingual games, environmental problems, theoretical sensitivities as well as formalistic approaches.
The event features artworks by 40 artists including Aydin Aghdashlou, Farshid Azarang, Parvaneh Etemadi, Fatemeh Emdadian, Taha Behbahani, Kourosh Adim, Bahman Jalali, Mohammad Ebrahim Jafari, Hossein Khosrowjerdi, Iran Doroudi, Masoud Arabshahi, Parviz Kalantari, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Abbas Kiarostami alongside works by 24 international artists.
Those interested can visit the exhibit from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. everyday while on Fridays it is open from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Museum of Contemporary Arts is located on Northern Kargar St. adjacent to Laleh Park, Tehran.