|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ferdowsi’s Mausoleum
|
|
May 14 is Ferdowsi National Day in Iran. Enthusiasts of the renowned poet gather at his mausoleum in Tous, Khorasan
Razavi province, to commemorate the day.
|
|
|
|
|
Tous Commemorates Ferdowsi
A congress themed ’Ferdowsi’s Knowledge and Wisdom’ opens today in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, as part of the program to commemorate renowned Iranian poet Hakim Abolqasem Ferdowsi.
Announcing this, Mohammad Jafar Yahaqqi, the event’s secretary told ISNA that the congress will be attended by head of Khorasan Razavi Culture and Islamic Guidance Department as well as the head of provincial Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.
Iranian literati, including Mohammad Ali Eslami-Nodoushan, Ali Ravaqi, Ahmad Vakilian and Qadamali Sarami will speak at the congress, he said. Yahaqqi noted that a number of cultural programs, to be attended by foreign guests, will be held in cultural centers across the province.
“Ferdowsi Tomb in Tous will be showered with flowers,“ he said.
The program will be held in cooperation with Ferdowsi Cultural Center and provincial Culture and Islamic Guidance Department.
The great Persian poet penned his globally-acknowledged masterpiece Shahnameh (Book of the King) over 1,000 years ago. Being one of the most outstanding works of Persian literature, the book contains 60,000 couplets, mostly on life stories of Persian legends.
Ferdowsi took some 30 years to write the book in pure Persian language and avoided Arabic words as much as possible. Shahnameh was completed around 989 or 990 AD.
|
|
|
|
Iranian Pavilion at Cannes
|
|
A frame from ÔA Testimonial for GodÕ directed by Alireza Amini
|
Farabi Cinema Foundation will organize the Iranian cinema pavilion at the 61st Cannes International Film Festival which opens today in southern France.
Speaking to ISNA, Amir Esfandiari, director of Farabi Cinema Foundation’s International Department also said, “This year eight institutes are conducting activities in the Iranian cinema pavilion under the title ’Umbrella for Iranian Cinema’.“
Iran’s Center for Development of Documentary and Experimental Cinema, the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, Art Center and Martyr Avini Cultural-Artistic Institute, are among the participants.
A total of 18 Iranian films will be presented at Cannes market, including ’The Son of Soil’, directed by Mohammad Ali Basheh-Ahangar, ’Simply’ by Reza Mirkarimi, ’Each Night of Solitude’ by Rasoul Sadr-Ameli, ’A Testimonial for God’ by Alireza Amini and ’Wind Whirls in the Loan’ by Khosrow Masoumi.
Reza Karimi’s ’Reflection’, Mohammad Reza Aslani’s ’Green Fire’, Fereidoun Hassanpour’s ’Address’ and Abbas Rafei’s ’Another Life’, are also in the lineup.
Esfandiari noted that a catalogue of selected works of Iranian cinema along with a DVD featuring information about the new generation of Iranian filmmakers will be offered on the market.
Brazilian Fernando Meirelles’ ’Blindness’ is opening Cannes tonight.
|
|
|
|
|
Imam Ali (AS):
Whoever is not diligent in his work will suffer. Whoever has no share of Allah in his wealth and in his life will have no place in His realm.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Isfahan Hosting Int’l Music Workshop
Isfahan’s Art Bureau is holding a workshop to enable Iranian and European musicians to share their knowledge of instrument designing.
Some 27 artists from Switzerland, Poland, France, Germany, Italy and the UK are taking part in the event to present musical instruments of their respective countries, FNA reported.
Participants will also get to learn about Iranian rhythms and the making of traditional instruments such as ’Daf’ (a tambourine-like instrument), ’Tombak’ (Persian goblet drum) as well as the reed and Santour (dulcimer).Iranian musicians conducting the workshop include Hamid Sheikh-Bahaei, Morteza Qasemi, Bahman Babaei and Malek Mohammad Masoudi.
The workshop will run until Friday.
Warsaw Fest to Feature Iranian Film
Iranian filmmaker Masoud Bakhshi’s ’Tehran Has No More Pomegranates’ is participating in the fifth Warsaw’s Planete Doc Review Festival.
The 69-minute documentary, which will be screened in the event’s Culture section, recounts the history of the Iranian capital using subtle irony and humor, presstv reported.
’Tehran Has No More Pomegranates’ has won numerous international awards, including the Best Director Prize of the 2007 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). The Fifth Warsaw’s Planete Doc Review Festival will run until May 18.
’Sicko’ on Tehran’s Screen
Tehran’s Farhang movie theater will screen Michael Moore’s highly acclaimed documentary ’Sicko’ on Wednesday.
Being Moore’s follow-up to 2004’s ’Fahrenheit 9/11’, the film is a 2007 production that investigates the American healthcare system, focusing on its for-profit health insurance and pharmaceutical industry. It compares the private sector US system with the socialized systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba, MNA reported.
’Sicko’ opened to positive reviews, but also generated criticism and controversy.
Some policy specialists have praised the film while others have criticized the film for its positive portrayal of the publicly funded health systems of Canada, the United Kingdom and Cuba, and for its negative portrayal of the health care system in the United States.
Moore’s other films include ’Captain Mike Across America’ and ’And Justice for All’.
’Modern Iranian Satirists’
Dedicated to Ehterami
The first volume of ’Modern Iranian Satirists’, dedicated to veteran satirist Manouchehr Ehterami, has been published by Soureh Mehr Publishing House.
Compiled by Fariba Farshadmehr, the book contains a short biography of Ehterami, an interview with him as well as some of his satires published over the past four decades.
The veteran satirist told ISNA that he plans to compile the works of Iranian satirist and journalist Aboutorab Jali.
Describing Jali as a unique satirist who is second only to Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda, Ehterami said that compiling a book on Jali will not be possible in the near future since the task requires extensive research from a wide array of resources.
Born in 1941 in Tehran, Ehterami began his artistic activities with Tofiq weekly. His best-seller for children ’Hassani’ continues to be a popular series in Iran.
Soureh Mehr also plans to publish works on the Lives of other veteran Iranian satirists, including Yousefali Mirshakak, Kiumars Saberi Foumani and Omran Salahi.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
