Iran Daily - Arts & Culture


	Arts & Culture	Mon, Apr 21, 2008

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Biggest
Cinema Complex Planned

Motahari Animation
Under Production

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Iranian music group ÔParsianÕ, conducted by Manouchehr Sahbaei (inset), performed a concert at TehranÕs Vahdat Hall on April 19.
The program was held in cooperation with Roudaki Cultural and Artistic Foundation.

Biggest
Cinema Complex Planned

An Iranian movie theater owner plans to build the world’s biggest cinema complex in Tehran.
Producer and film distributor Ahmad Golchin, who owns some of the largest cinema complexes in the Middle East, told Fars news agency that the project will become operational once feasibility studies are completed.
He added that numerous sites have so far been considered for the purpose and a suitable venue will be selected after taking into account Tehran’s traffic congestion.
“I have always intended to build a cinema complex in the country, and this will be materialized with the help of Iranian cinema officials,“ he said.
He added that the complex will include 25 halls, used for cultural, commercial and recreational purposes.
Golchin will also inaugurate a 13-hall cinema complex in Dubai City Center by the end of April.
The producer has so far established several movie theaters in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

Motahari Animation
Under Production

Saba Cultural-Artistic Institute is producing an animation ’Teacher of Love’, based on the life of Martyr Morteza Motahari.
Ayatollah Morteza Motahari (1920-1979) was an Iranian scholar, cleric, university lecturer and political activist, MNA said.
Written by Davoud Saleki and co-directed by Shahram Kharazmi and Maryam Saeidi, the 40-minute animation depicts the academic aspects of Motahari’s character.
Motahari had an outstanding character, both in his private life and in political activities, Kharazmi said. The film crew only focused on a few sections of his life given the large number of works about him and the time constraints of a relatively short film.
’Teacher of Love’ tells the story of Behrouz, a young university student who has joined the Forqan militia and takes responsibility for assassinating Ayatollah Motahari to prove his loyalty to the group.
Behrouz meets Motahari in his birthplace Fariman, Khorasan Razavi province, and finds he likes his character and abandons the idea of assassinating him.
’Teachers’ Day’ in Iran is celebrated on May 2, the day Ayatollah Motahari was assassinated by a member of the Forqan.

Imam Ali (AS):

Intellect is better than desire, for it makes you a king over your destiny, and desire makes you a slave of your destiny.

9 Literati to Join
Award Committee

Culture Minister will soon select members of the Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award Committee, announced the committee’s secretary.
Manouchehr Akbari also told MNA that that the works will be judged in five categories of short story, novel, literary critics, documentation, and historiography, and the winners will receive 110 gold coins.
The award, which is named after prominent Iranian writer Jalal Al-e Ahmad (1923-1969), will be Iran’s most lucrative literary award.
The council for Al-e Ahmad award has submitted to the ministry a list of 20 literary figures of which nine will be appointed award committee members, Akbari said.
He added that selecting the committee members would be the first step toward establishing Jalal Al-e Ahmad Award which has been delayed for a year.
It is probable that the award ceremony will be held on Al-e Ahmad’s birthday on November 22 each year, Akbari stated, adding that everything depends on the decision of relevant officials.
’The School Principal’, ’By the Pen’, ’The Tale of Beehives’, ’The Cursing of the Land’ and ’A Stone upon a Grave’ are among the works of Al-e Ahmad.

’Bald Hero’ Bound for Italy

Iranians are to perform traditional puppet shows and tell stories at the Dawn of Storytelling Festival to be held in the Italian cities of Cervia and Turin from May 5-11.
A number of Iranian troupes will appear in the festival, including the group ’Apple Tree’, which will perform the ’Bald Hero’ (Pahlavan Kachal) puppet show, directed by Fahimeh Mirzahosseini.
Morshed Torabi, a prominent Iranian storyteller, will also take on a special role in the festival’s ’Golden Night of Storytelling’, ISNA reported.
Meetings, seminars and workshops on storytelling will be held on the sidelines of the event.

UNICEF ’Solutions’ for Family Problems

Iranian filmmaker Qasem Jafari’s ’Two Solutions for One Problem’, which is being financed by UNICEF, is currently in the post-production stage.
Starring Niki Karimi, Hamed Behdad, and Elnaz Shakerdoust, the movie focuses on family problems and ways to handle them, MNA said.
The soundtrack is being prepared by Payam Shams and the movie is scheduled to take part in Hamedan Children Film Festival this year.
The cast also includes Hadiseh Madani, Niyayesh Mahani, Iran Jafari and Amir-Hossein Gorjasi.
Jafari’s ’Majnun-e Leili’ is currently on Iran’s screens.

Botanical Gallery Opens in London

London’s Kew Gardens has opened the world’s first gallery dedicated to botanical art works--some of which have never been seen by the public.
The £3 million attraction is exhibiting art from the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and from collector Dr Shirley Sherwood, BBC reported.
Kew has a vast collection of more than 200,000 art works.
Some of the illustrations of extinct species are thought to be the only surviving record.
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens will be open to the public all year round.
With one quarter of the world’s species of flowering plants threatened by extinction in the next 50 years, Kew has a vital role to play to inspire and deliver science-based plant conservation.
Sherwood has been collecting contemporary botanical art since 1990.
Her collection includes work by more than 200 artists living in 30 different countries.