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Movies from Iran scoop awards at Khamrubu Intl. Short Film Festival

Iranian movies have won awards in various categories of the Khamrubu International Short Film Festival in India. The festival took place in Guwahati, Assam, on February 26 and 27.

“The Hand” by Parviz Rajai was selected as best film in the short drama section.

In this film, an azure grain departs from a rock because of a mine explosion, and hits a young poet in the woods due to the intensity of the blast. The young poet picks up the grain and takes it with him. In the middle of the way, the grain falls out. The poet keeps going on his way without noticing. In time, the azure grain faces different events.

“Aphasia” by Saeid Alinejad also received an honorable mention in this category.

“Dancing with Rainbow” directed by Hassan Mokhtari won first runner-up award in the documentary competition, while “Hargila” by Gerrit Vyn from the United States was named best documentary.

The documentary is about a girl who embellishes her hometown Mianeh in East Azarbaijan with her murals.

In the animation competition, “The Sun” by Omid Seifi also received first runner-up prize.

The story of the movie is set in a dirty city where people are suffering. A child is born. He who has lost his mother is alone in the city when a child feels lonely and scared. A butterfly takes him somewhere. The child sees that the sun is imprisoned in a cage in a dark room. The child releases the sun and the sun illuminates the city and removes sorrow from the people.

“The Statue” by Mohsen Salehifard won the critics award in this section.

The animation follows a sculptor who engages with the clay of his sculpture and shapes it.

Roya won the award for best female child artist for “Aphasia”, while Emad Najmabadi won the named best male child artist for his role “Aparat”.

“Aparat” also brought Erfan Ehteshami the award for best cinematographer, and Mohammad-Javad Belqadr won the award for best editor for his collaboration in “Victim”. /T.T/

“Concerns of the Hedge” tops at Sarv Theater Awards

The cast and crew of the play “Concerns of the Hedge” were at their happiest on Monday during the second edition of the Sarv Theater Awards after winning prizes in several categories, including best director and actor.

The Association of Revolution and Sacred Defense Theater and the Revayat Cultural Foundation launched the awards in 2020 to honor theatrical works on revolution and resistance and stage artists working on these subjects.

Mehrdad Rayani-Makhsus was chosen as best director for the teleplay, which tells a story from the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, which is called “Sacred Defense” in Iran.

After accepting his award at the Mehr Hall of the Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization, Rayani-Makhsus said that he has been under a storm of criticism following his return from England in 2014.

“Over the past eight years, I have staged fives plays, four of which have been about the Sacred Defense,” he stated.

“Many people asked me why I had left Iran and many others asked me why I returned. I was hurt by swords of criticism over these years and go walking in the mountains to heal my wounds. I want to say that I am staying here and will never go anywhere else,” he added

In “Concerns of the Hedge”, an Iranian commander captures a member of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), a few days before the launch of the counter-offensive Operation Mersad against the MKO militants, who, with the help of Saddam Hussein, carried out an attack in the summer of 1988 to capture the western Iranian city of Kermanshah. The member reveals useful information about the attack.

Jahangir Almasi received the Sarv Award for best actor, while Anahita Javaherchi won the award for best set designer for the play.

“Concerns of the Hedge” also brought Mahmud Noruzi the best cameraman award.

Bijan Samsami was given the best TV director award for “Concerns of the Hedge” and “Silence”.

The award for best playwright also went to Rayani-Makhsus for “Silence” directed by Nima Dehqan.

The jury gave its special award to “What Journeys We’ve Gone on” by Saber Mohammadi.

The jury didn’t choose a winner in the best actress category, while Mohaddeseh Rezai was awarded an honorable mention for her role in “Killing the Nightmares”. /T.T/

Iranian photographers honored at intl. photography festivals

Iranian photographers Ahmad Khatiri and Ali Kianjam were awarded in two separate photography exhibitions in Japan and India.

Ahmad Khatiri received an award for his work “Alone” from the Japanese Asahi Shimbun photographic salon.

The photo is taken of a boy clad in a military uniform among a number of Iranian servicemen.

“Alone” has previously received the GPU White Ribbon J1 – FIAP blue ribbon J3 at the Vernon-Normandy Photograph Exhibition in France.

Khatiri has participated in numerous photography competitions around the globe and won prizes in some of them.

Iman Yadmellat and Mohammad Esteki also were admired in an Indian photo festival.

In these two festivals, which were held under the auspices of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) and PSA, works of the Focus Photo Club (FIAP representative in Iran) members including Mohammad Esteki, Iman Yadmalt, Omidreza Pournabi, Kiarang Alaei, Mir Ali Parandak, Arlen Keshishian, Atieh Niknam and Frank Sajjadi Hazaveh were also accepted.

Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique, or FIAP, is an international organization of national associations of photography. As of 2021 91 national associations are members, comprising over one million individual photographers. /MNA/

Iran to set up 4 new knowledge-based export centers overseas

The Manager of the Iranian Innovation and Prosperity Fund revealed that the country will launch four new knowledge-based exports centers in foreign countries.

Speaking in an interview with IRNA on Monday, Marzieh Shaverdi said that the Fund will set up four new knowledge-based companies’s exports bases in the countries including Kyrgyzstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman.

She went on to say that the Fund set up permanent exhibitions or bases in foreign countries in the current Iranian calendar year in 1400 (started March 21, 2021) to help knowledge-based companies enter international markets.

In this regard, Iran’s Innovation and Prosperity Fund has launched exports bases in the Iraqi city of Karbala and Armenia with the participation of 20 and six knowledge-based firms respectively, Shaverdi added.

Between 300 and 400 knowledge-based companies have enjoyed the capability of exporting their products, she said.

These competent knowledge-based companies are busy active in the fields of exporting medical, agricultural and advanced equipment and machinery as well as bio- and nanotechnology equipment, she added. / MNA/

Narges Abyar receives special award from Turkish festival

Narges Abyar received the special award of the successful director from the 5th International Woman Filmmakers Festival in Turkey.

The special award for the successful director at the 5th International Woman Filmmakers Festival was awarded to Narges Abyar, for her film “Ablagh”.

Narges Abyar, Iranian film director, author and screenwriter, is best known for directing Track 143, Breath, and When the Moon Was Full.

Attended by the Iranian director, a specialized workshop session was held.

Some of her works are also set to be screened at the festival.

The theme of the 5th International Woman Filmmakers Festival which will take place between February 27th and March 8th 2022 in Izmir is set as ‘Boundaries’. /MNA/

Iranian girl Parmida Azadian finishes first at UNESCO center art competition

Eleven-year-old Iranian girl Parmida Azadian has won first prize at the International Visual Art Competition 2020 in Troyes, France.

Parmida, a member of the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA – Kanoon), received the prize in the category dedicated to children aged between 10 and 13, the institute announced on Sunday.

Faranak Purali, Ava Kowsari, Mohammadreza Rezai, Milad Sadeqi, Mohammad-Hassan Hasheminejad, Kiandokht Azizi, Rojan Marjani, Parnia Azami, Baran Qaderi-rad, Sarina Rabi Hamedani, Zahra Javaheri and Chida Qorbani, all of whom are the members of Kanoon branch offices across Iran, were awarded diplomas of honor.

The International Visual Arts Competition is open to everyone from 3 to 25 years old.

First prize in the 3-5 category was given to Cheuk Nam Li from China, while Elyn Han from Canada took first place in the 6-9 competition.

Nada Gougou from France received the top prize in the 14-17 category and Ling Joo Yee from Malaysia received first prize in the 18-25 category.

The top award in the medio-social category was given to Fiorenza Geretta Musiris from Peru.

The Louis François Center for UNESCO and the World Art Institute of Youth – Centre for UNESCO (Imaj) organize the competition to promote the practice of art among children and young people around the world in the hope of uniting them through an international activity.

The World Art Institute of Youth – Centre for UNESCO (Imaj) has assigned itself the task of giving children and youth a place in the memory of mankind.

The center archives all participants’ artistic creations inside its artothèque (art library), “Memories of the Future”.

All submissions remain the property of the center, which reserves the right to use the creations for all practical purposes within the framework of its activities.

The theme of this year’s competition is “The landscape that I love, the nature I must preserve”. /T.T/

TUMS hosts students from 48 different countries

Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) hosts students from 48 different countries, according to the Vice-Chancellor for Education of the International Campus of the university.

Seyed Mehdi Rezayat said that students from different countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Palestine and Gambia are studying in the university.

Pointing out that currently, 1,340 foreign students are studying in 13 faculties of TUMS, Rezayat cited, “We have foreign students in all levels, including bachelor’s, master’s, general and specialized doctorates and fellowships in the university.”

The University seeks to expand the enrollments of foreign students, especially from across South America and Europe, according to him. /MNA/

Foreign investment in industry, mining, trade sectors up nearly 136%

The Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade has approved 129 foreign investment projects valued at about $3.485 billion in the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2021-January 20, 2022), which indicates a 135.9 percent rise compared to the same period of time in the past year.

The data released by the ministry show that 104 foreign investment projects valued at about $1.477 billion had been approved in the first 10 months of the previous year.

As reported, the number of the investment projects approved in the mentioned 10 months has also increased by 24 percent in comparison to the figure for the last year’s same period.

Approved foreign investment includes all applications, including investment to create new projects, purchase of shares of existing companies, as well as foreign investment in the form of contractual arrangements.

The ministry had approved 74 foreign investment projects valued at about $2.227 billion in the first half of the present year (March 21-September 22, 2021).

A total of 113 foreign investment projects valued at $2.614 billion were approved in the country during the mentioned period, of which the share of the industry, mining, and trade sector was 65 percent and 85 percent in terms of number and value, respectively.

Back in December 2021, Head of Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization (PBO) Masoud Mirkazemi said the government has it on the agenda to remove the barriers in the way of attracting foreign investment.

Stressing the need for the attraction of domestic and foreign investment to achieve a targeted eight-percent economic growth, Mirkazemi said: “barriers to attracting foreign investment will be removed.”

Speaking in a gathering of Iranian ambassadors to neighboring countries, the official said with the new changes applied to the budget structure, the duties of Iranian ambassadors in other countries have become heavier.

According to the official, economic growth of eight percent has been one of the goals of the Sixth National Development Plan (2016-2021) and also become the focus of the 13th government’s major economic programs. /T.T/

 

Iran’s men’s compound win gold at World Archery Para Championships

Iran’s men’s compound team claimed a gold medal at the 2022 World Archery Para Championships. In the compound open final, Iran’s Ramezan Biabani and Hadi Nouri defeated Australia 145-143 to become this year’s champion whilst Slovakia beat France 150-141 to take bronze.

The women’s event saw Turkey keep their composure to win 150-149 against Russian Archery Federation.

After being tied 148-148 at the end of the match, Iran’s Maryam Yavarpour and Farzaneh Asgari succeeded 20-19 in a shoot-off against Britain to secure the bronze medal.

Iran’s men’s recurve team had previously qualified for the final match.

Gholamreza Rahimi and Asghar Zarei Nejad defeated Turkey 5-3 in the semifinals and will face Britain in the final match on Sunday.

A total of 223 archers from 40 nations compete in the championships in the United Arab Emirates. The event started on Feb. 22 in Dubai, and will finish on Feb. 27. / T.T/