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Natanz Grand Mosque
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A view of Natanz Grand Mosque in Isfahan province.
The mosque, which boasts unique architecture, has an octagonal Shabestan (nocturnal praying space) overlooking a courtyard with four porticos. (Photo by Ali Hassanpour)
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Nazeri to Perform in Paris
Acclaimed Iranian vocalist Shahram Nazeri will be the special guest in a ceremony to bid farewell to Gerard Violette, artistic director of the Theatre de la Ville in Paris.
According to Mehr News Agency, Violette, a distinguished French cultural figure, invited Nazeri to give a ten-minute performance at the event slated for June 12.
Artists from India, Germany, the US and a number of African nations will also take part in the event.
Violette attended a commemoration ceremony in which Nazeri was presented the Chevalier de la Lˇgion d’Honneur medal, one of France’s most prestigious awards in the world of art and culture, in Paris in September 2007.
He commended Nazeri for his tantalizing voice and artistic ability.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Seraji, organizer of Nazeri’s concerts, said that the artist plans a series of concerts in Yazd province on July 3-4.
He will later tour Kerman, Qazvin, Isfahan and Tehran provinces.
Seraji noted that some of the maestro’s programs has been put off until after Ramadan, the month of fasting, and hoped that with the cooperation of the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, he would perform in most of the cities this year.
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9 Iranian Films at UAE Festival
Nine Iranian films will be screened in the Abu Dhabi summer film festival to begin on June 12 in the UAE.
According to ISNA, Abu Dhabi’s Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) has organized a month-long summer film tribute that showcases international art movies from Iran and Italy.
The Iranian films include ’Leila’ directed by Dariush Mehrjouei, ’Color of Paradise’ by Majid Majidi, ’Artist’ by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, ’Blackboard’ by Samira Makhmalbaf and ’Pear Tree’ by Dariush Mehrjouei.
Rakhshan Bani-Etemad’s ’Mainline’, Niki Karimi’s ’A Few Days Later’ and Tahmineh Milani’s ’Ceasefire’ are also in the lineup.
According to the festival’s website, many critics now rank Iran’s films as among the best in the world, with a significance that invites comparison to Italian neo-realism and similar movements in past decades.
In recent decades, Iranian films have won 300 awards in international festivals, where directors such as Abbas Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf are recognized and respected as among the most accomplished.
The section on Italian cinema will review classical works of the 40s and 50s, particularly films by leading Italian directors, including Luchino Visconti, Vittorio de Sica and Roberto Rossellini.
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Imam Ali (AS):
To respect the learned is to respect God.
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Square Named After Darroudi
A square in Darroud, Khorasan Razavi province has been named after renowned surrealist Iranian painter Iran Darroudi.
A proposal to the effect was approved by the city’s Islamic Council, ISNA reported.
A retrospective of the painter which is currently underway at Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts has been extended until June 27 and will also be held in other provincial cities.
The event, titled ’Everlasting Persian Gulf’, takes its name from one of her well-known tableaux by the same title.
Darroudi has put on display 207 paintings at the event which is a sequel to a number of exhibitions organized by the museum to honor leading Iranian artists.
Noted literati Mohammad Reza Shafiei Kadkani and Morteza Kakhi who visited the exhibit, described Darroudi as the most influential figure in contemporary Iranian painting.
Born in 1936, Darroudi graduated from R.C.A. Institute of New York in TV direction and production.
The artist held her first painting exhibition in Tehran in the spring of 1960. Darroudi has so far held some 48 individual and 45 group exhibitions in Iran, France, Italy, Germany, US and Canada.
Madrid Welcomes Saani
Prominent Iranian director Mahmoud Reza Saani’s ’Wild Goose’ and ’Siyamo’ were screened at Madrid’s Persepolis Cultural Foundation.
The 27-minute documentary, ’Siyamo’ uses tradition and folklore to portray a whimsical and poetic quest for love in post-Taliban Afghanistan, IRNA said.
Saani’s feature-length film, ’Wild Goose’ shows the monstrosities of war from the perspective of an Iranian and an Iraqi soldier.
A self-educated filmmaker, Mahmoud Reza Saani has made numerous feature-length and short films. He has received awards from film festivals in Cuba, Italy, Spain and the US.
Araz Ensemble Plans Concert
Azerbaijani ensemble ’Araz’, conducted by Rahim Shahriari, will perform concerts at Interior Ministry’s Grand Auditorium on June 17.
The concert will be the band’s second performance in Iran this year following a presentation on May 1 at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall, ISNA said.
The group will be accompanied by instrumentalists, including Mohammad Hossein Afshari, Amanollah Azari, Rima Nozad and Shahla Milani.
The band will blend Azeri and classical music at the event, and will feature a number of folklore pieces, including ’White Nights’, ’Don’t Cry’ and ’Without You’.
The ensemble has had many presentations in France, Sweden and the US.
Italian Director Dino Risi Dies
Film director Dino Risi, who chronicled the bittersweet and lighter side of Italy’s post-war economic boom, died on Saturday. He was 91.
Risi was known as one of the masters of the Commedia all’Italiana (Italian comedy). He had been ill for some time and died in a Rome residence where had lived for years, Reuters reported.
Among the most famous of his more than 50 films were ’Poveri ma Belli’ (Poor but Beautiful) and ’Il Sorpasso’ (The Easy Life).
’Il Sorpasso’ (1963) was the story of a hedonist played by Vittorio Gassman who travels around Italy in a sports car with a shy student played by Jean-Louis Trintignant.
His 1974 film ’Profumo di Donna’ (Scent of a Woman), won two Oscar nominations. It was remade in the United States in 1992 in a version starring Al Pacino.
In 2002 Risi was given the Golden Lion award for his career at the Venice Film Festival.
He continued working into his 80s, joking about getting old and the prospect of death.
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