The Iranian Biotechnology Society is organizing the “3rd International and 11th National Iranian Biotechnology Science Congress” in early September.

The “3rd International and 11th National Iranian Biotechnology Science Congress”, organized by Iranian Biotechnology Society, is slated for September 1th to 3th, 2019 at Razi Conference Center in Tehran.

The event is described as the most important gathering of biotechnology specialists in Iran, and is expected to gather together more than 1,000 scientists, researchers, policy makers, academia, university professors and students.

The congress provides a platform for researchers and decision-makers in all aspects of biotechnology to present their latest findings and learn about important developments in these areas of science and technology.

The congress will cover different fields of biotechnology including: Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology; Plant Biotechnology; Animal Biotechnology; Industrial biotechnology; Environmental biotechnology; Mining Biotechnology; Nano Biotechnology; Bioinformatics and systems biology; and ethical issues in biotechnology. /MNA/

The 32nd edition of the International Film Festival for Children and Youth (IFFCY) was wrapped up on Monday evening with award ceremony after seven year of screening.

The ceremony, held in cinema complex of Isfahan’s City Center was attended by several prominent political, cultural and local figures.

Intercultural Dialogue is the message of IFFCY

Isfahan’s Mayor Qodratollah Norouzi was the first speaker of the ceremony. He said that the poster of the festival depicts five children from five continents, and this shows the importance of dialogue among nations and races.

The mayor added that envoys from 28 countries of the world have come to the IFFCY to talk and communicate with each other. He also highlighted the memoranda of understanding signed among Iran, Russia and South Korea on festival cooperation, and between Iran and Iraq on cinema and filmmaking issues.

Referring to the social achievements of the festival, Nowruzi said that the sense of responsibility, cooperation, and friendship were strengthened by the gathering

Golden Butterflies of IFFCY International Section

The Best Film of the international section of the IFFCY was “Hacker” by Signe Leick Jensen and Morten Kaufmann. The Golden Butterfly for the Best Animation was given to “Jacob, Mimi and the Talking Dogs”, produced by Sabine Andersone. The prize for the Best Short Animation went to “Cloudy” produced by Filip Diviak.

“Marine Boy” produced by Abbas Jalali-Yekta was announced as the Best Short Film, the script of “The Little Witch” received the Golden Butterfly written by Matthias Pacht.

Mahdi Jafari, director of “The 23” received the prize for the Best Director, and “Bille”, produced by Janis Juhnevics, won the prize for the Best Feature.

The Special Award of the Jury went to the “Chuskit” , directed and produced by Priya Ramassuban.

In the CIFEJ Award section, the jury awarded the special prize to “The Falcons” jointly produced by Anna Vigdis Gísladóttir and Thorhallur Gunnarsson.

Veteran IFFCY director honored

At the ceremony, also, Alireza Rezadad was honored for years of managing the festival, as well as his great contribution to the cinema of Iran, particularly in the field of children and young adults.

In his appreciation, a clip was screened in which several prominent Iranian filmmakers complimented him for his role over the past years.

Rezadad directed six editions of the festival, and is now senior adviser at Cinema Organization of Iran.

In his short speech, he underscored the social responsibility of the filmmakers in the field of children, and said he would like to extend the diploma of appreciation to those who have been making much effort to relieve the suffering of children in the flood-hit areas.

Children lead adults to humanitarian cinema

In another part of the ceremony, Iran’s Minister of Culture Abbas Salehi addressed the audience. He said that these are children and the youth who can make us closer to a humanitarian cinema.

“The cinema for children provides us with numerous opportunities, including innocent imaginations, enjoying films along with family, and having a social cinema,” he said.

He noted that in the last Persian year (March 21, 2018-March 20, 2019) 15 films were screened in Iran’s cinemas, and one of the top 10 best seller films belonged to the children genre.

Gloden Butterflies of the IFFCY national section

In the National Section of the festival, the Golden Butterfly of the festival for the best script was awarded to the film “The 23” written by Mahdi Jafari. Alireza Akbari won the Golden Butterfly for acting in the “No-Fly Zone”.

The prize for the Best Director went to Amir-Hossein Ghahraiee who made the film “Bazivou”.

“The 23” also claimed the Golden Butterfly for the Best Film produced by Mojtaba Faravardeh.

The Jury’s Golden Butterfly was awarded to Behrouz Rashad for producing the film “That Night’s Train”.

Foreign films fruits of Iran’s cultural diplomacy

Abbas Rezaie, Governor of Isfahan Province in the ceremony said that the presence of foreign films from 27 countries along with Iranian films indicates that the country’s cultural diplomacy has been successful.
He added that the city of Isfahan has played a big role in the richness of Iran’s culture and art in the history, and the 32nd edition of the festival witnesses to the claim.

The governor also praised the 32nd edition of the festival for understanding the social responsibilities, planning to include labor and disabled children, and taking portable cinemas to 123 areas of Iran, including the flood-stricken and less privileged regions in Isfahan.

Head of United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF) in Iran Mandeep O’brien, Cinema Organization of Iran Hossein Entezami, Director of the 32nd edition of the festival Alireza Tabesh, Mayor of Isfahan Qodratollah Nowruzi, General Director of Isfahan’s Culture Directorate Mohammad-Ali Ansari, Iran’s Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs Massoumeh Ebtekar and several acclaimed Iranian filmmakers, actors and actresses also attended the ceremony.

The festival, where more than 180 films were screened, was officially inaugurated on August 19. It hosted some 80 foreign guests from 27 countries. / MNA/

Iran tourism chief has said that medical [and health] travelers constitute a significant share of arrivals in the country.

“[Nearly] 7.8 million foreign nationals visited Iran over the past [Iranian calendar] year [ended March 20] that a significant number of whom were medical tourists,” Mehr quoted Ali-Asghar Mounesan as saying on Monday.

Mounesan made the remarks on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of a radiotherapy and chemotherapy center in Arak, west-central Iran.

“During the first three months of this year, the number of tourists arriving in the country increased by 40 percent, again [significant] part of whom was health tourism,” he added.

“Medical tourism is one of the most important fields of Iran’s travel sector and an [average] spending of $2,400 per tourist indicates its importance.”

Mounesan who doubles as vice president added that such figures demonstrate there is a good opportunity in the country in terms of medical and health tourism, and Arak should take such an advantage too.

Iran hosted a record high of nearly 600,000 medical travelers during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-July 21), nearly equal to the figure for the whole past year, according to an Iranian association for the health tourism promotion.

People from the Persian Gulf littoral states, Iraq and Syria as well as Iranian expatriates residing in Canada and Germany constituted the majority of medical travelers to the Islamic Republic, who received plastic, cosmetic, open-heart and orthopedic surgeries amongst other treatments, Mohammad Panahi, a deputy for the association, said in July.

Medical tourism fetched Iran some $1.2 billion last year, Panahi said, adding that the figure has increased by 20-30 percent in the first four months of this year.

Many domestic experts say that medical tourism in Iran produces win-win outcomes as the country yields considerable benefits to international health-care seekers, offering affordable yet quality treatment services.

Iranian hospitals admitted nearly 70,000 foreign patients over the last year, according to the medical tourism department at the Ministry of Health.

The Islamic Republic has set its goals to exceed its yearly medical travelers to around 2 million in [calendar year] 1404 (March 2025-March 2026). / Tehran times /

The organizers of the 21st Iran Cinema Celebration honored four influential figures in Iranian cinema for their lifetime achievements in a special ceremony on Tuesday night.

Stage and screen actor Akbar Zanjanpur, makeup artist Bijan Mohtashem, sound engineer Hassan Zahedi and director Sirus Alvand received lifetime achievement awards during the ceremony organized at the Eyvane Shams Hall.

Speaking at the ceremony, Iranian House of Cinema director Manuchehr Shahsavari called culture the field of friendship, respect and unity, and said ,”If an individual enters cinema without these, he/she will not succeed.”

“What gives us the opportunity to work in the field cinema, despite all these hardships, is our unity, and if we don’t take the time and have patience, the future of Iran’s cinema will be dark and painful,” he added.

“Tonight is the night to feel relieved after 53 years of constant work,” Zanjanpur said after accepting his award.

“I am happy to be honored by my colleagues at the Iranian House of Cinema. Artists are lonely and this loneliness gives credit to an artist, and I am one of the lonely ones,” he added.

Mohtashem was the next honoree, and prominent make-up artist Abdollah Eskandari talked about Mohtashem on stage and said, “The history of make-up in Iranian cinema is mingled with Mohtashem. During those years when make-up had no meaning in cinema, Mohtashem went to the U.S. to learn the art and returned back home and trained many students, including me.”

“Tonight is a big honor for me to be beside masters of cinema. I must express thanks to those who I have worked with all these years,” Zahedi said on stage.

Alvand was the last who went on onstage to receive his lifetime achievement award.

“Four nights are very important for me, one is my birthday night, the other is the night I married my only love Nahid Abbasi, the third was the night I received the best director award and the fourth surely is tonight,” Alvand concluded.

The Iranian House of Cinema organizes the celebration every year to commemorate Iran’s National Day of Cinema, which is September 12. However, this year’s celebration will be held a few weeks earlier due to its coincidence with the Muharram mourning season.

“When the Moon Was Full” and “Sheeple” led nominations at the 21st Iran Cinema Celebration, as each of the movies got the jury’s nods in 14 categories.

The movies are competing in best film, best director, best actor, best actress, best costume design, best stage design and several other categories. / Tehran times/

The 32nd International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Isfahan has announced the jury members for three international sections of the festival.

The jury members are slated to select the best films lining up at the festival’s short and feature, CIFEJ, and animation sections.

Liya Gilmutdinova (Russia), Jung Hyun Yoo (South Korea), Daw-Ming Lee (China), Katharina Dockorn (Germany), Sara Kasir (Lebanon), Mohammad Mahdi Asgharpour (Iran), and Leili Rashidi (Iran) will select the best short and feature films of this section.

The top films in CIFEJ section will be selected by Dragan Fimon Milinkovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Fatma Aloo (Tanzania) and Mohammad Bakhshi (Iran).

In a meantime, the top animation films will be selected by Alexandre Athane (France), Izabela Plucinska (Poland), Niels Putman (Belgium), Mikhail Tumelya (Belarus) and Amir Saharkhiz (Iran).

The jury panel for the national section include Iraj Tahmaseb, Amrollah Ahmadjou, Gholamreza Ramezani, Sareh Bayat, Marjan Ashrafizadeh, Hamed Jafari, and Ali Mazaheri.

Presided by Alireza Tabesh, the 32nd International Film Festival for Children and Youth is currently underway in Province of Isfahan through August 26 in the national and international sections. /MNA/

Restored versions of seven films along with selection of five favorite children’s movies from Iranian cinema will be displayed during the 32nd International Film Festival for Children and the Youth.

The movies in the Preserved Classics Section include “Harmonica” by Amir Naderi, “Where Is the Friend’s Home” by Abbas Kiarostami, “Niaz” by Alireza Davudnejad, “Tales of the Shahnameh” by Ali-Akbar Sadeqi, “The City of Mice” by Marzieh Borumand, “Thief of Dolls” by Mohammadreza Honarmand and “Patal and Little Dreams” by Masud Keramati which will be displayed at Charbaq Cinema Complex and Chehel Soton Hall and City Center in Isfahan.

“Once Upon a Time” and “Kolah-Qermezi”, both directed by Iraj Tahmasb, “Long Lost Sisters” by Kiumars Purahmad, “The Singing Cat” by Kambozia Partovi and “The City of Mice” by Marzieh Borumand are the films selected for the Memorable Films Section which will be displayed in Pardis Honar Hall in Isfahan.

Presided by Alireza Tabesh, the 32nd International Film Festival for Children and Youth is slated to be held in Province of Isfahan on August 19-26, 2019 in the national and international sections. /MNA/

The 32nd International Film Festival for Children and Youth opened at Ghadir Park in the central Iranian city of Isfahan on Monday evening.

The ceremony opened with a message from Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi, which was read to the participants.

“The speedy progress of the world of today has changed the life of man in different areas including culture. However, it promises a gradual, evolutionary change in children, and the Isfahan festival has taken new steps to achieve this path, promising new developments,” read part of the message.

“The screening of a selection of participating films in the flood-hit regions of the country is also a great happening and needs to be praised,” the message added.

Director of the festival Alireza Tabesh in his brief words also expressed thanks to the all participants and the Iranian and foreign guests, and especially the art and cultural officials of Isfahan for their great help in organizing the festival.

A great number of Iranian and international films will go on screen during the gala, which will be running in Isfahan until August 26.

Eleven animated movies and nine short films have been selected from different countries to be screened at the festival.

The animation lineup includes Russian filmmaker Sergei Ryabov’s 2018 movie “6:1” that portrays an inseparable girl and cat who are playing checkers, and the cat loses again and again.

Latvian director Edmunds Jansons’ 2017 animation “Pigtail and Mr. Sleeplessness” will also be screened.

It is about a six-year-old girl known as Pigtail, who together with her shaggy friend from her closet, Mr. Sleeplessness, come up with a “brilliant” plan to return her baby brother Leo to the amusement park where they believe he was bought.

Also included is “Plankton” by Gustaf Lindstrom from Britain. The 2018 animation gives the viewers a glimpse of the ideas and aspirations that float around at the bottom of the food chain.

“The Kite” by Martin Smatana from Germany is a 2019 animation which depicts a little boy who visits his grandfather in the countryside and they fly a kite together.

“Kinkaku-ji” by Viktor Azeev from Russia narrates the story of a camper, Greg, who wants to learn how to write poetry, and follows his friends’ advice and makes his way to Japan where a majestic golden temple belonging to Kinkaku-dzi lies.

The organizers also announced earlier that a selection of movies honored at different editions of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France will go on screen during the festival.

In addition, eight features and animations by Danish filmmakers will be reviewed during a special program.

A selection of 12 Iranian animations will also be competing in the national section of the festival, in addition to 10 Iranian short films, which are also competing in the national section.

Eight features and animations by Danish filmmakers will be reviewed during a special program.

The festival also plans to review films and animated movies from Georgia and Tatarstan.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) office in Tehran has dedicated a special award to a movie that provides a profound insight into children’s issues at the festival this year.

All the features, mid-length and short films competing in the Iranian national section will be reviewed for the UNICEF award.

The films will be reviewed by a special committee under the supervision of Iranian actress Mahtab Keramati, who is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.

Three Iranian cineastes will also be honored this year for their lifetime achievements in children’s cinema.

Screen and stage actress Maryam Saadat, filmmaker Mahin Javaherian and former director of the Fajr Film Festival Alireza Rezadad are the three honorees. / Tehran times /

Iranian steel mills produced a total of 4.12 million tons of finished steel products in the first four months of the current fiscal (March 21-July 22).

According to the latest date by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), the output of steel products, including hot- and cold-rolled coils, rebar, beams, pipes, wide and galvanized sheets, registered a 9% increase compared with the similar period of last year.

The lions share of the four-month output belongs to Mobarakeh Steel Company and its subsidiary Saba Steel with 2.36 million tons.

The giant steel producer was followed by Esfahan Steel Company with 776,253 tons, Oxin Steel Company with 294,174 tons, Khorasan Steel Company with 217,041 tons, Azarbaijan Steel Company with 116,629 tons, IASCO with 95,984 tons, and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Automotive Sheet Company with 83,952 tons.

Besides the finished steel products, a total of 6.86 million tons of ingot, bloom and billet were also produced in Iran during the mentioned four months, indicating a 4% growth year on year.

Mobarakeh Steel Company with its subsidiaries Saba and Hormozgan Steel was also the biggest producer of the semi-finished products with a 3.1-million-tons output.

It was followed by Khouzestan Steel Company with 1.3 million tons, Esfahan Steel Company with 819,107 tons, South Kaveh Steel Company with 389,998 tons, Khorasan Steel Company with 361,018 tons, Chadormalu Steel Company with 345,043 tons, Arfa Iron and Steel Company with 298,733 tons, Iran Alloy Steel Company with 166,122 tons and Bonab Steel Company with 74,808 tons. / MNA/

Iranian boys volleyball team gained a 3-1 victory over Brazil in a Saturday friendly match in Tunisia. The team is preparing to defend its title at 2019 FIVB Boy’s World Championship which is going to start in the African country on August 21.

Iranian boys came from one set behind to defeat the powerful Brazil 3-1 on Saturday (20-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-20). Iran had earlier defeated Cuba and Egypt in two other friendly games which are being held as a form of tournament.

“This friendly game was very useful for Iran. Tomorrow we will face the winner of Tunisia and Italy which will be the final match of the tournament and our last preparing game before the world event,” the team’s coach Mohammad Vakili said after the game against Brazil.

The 2019 edition of FIVB Boy’s World Championship will be held from August 21 to 30 in Tunis, Tunisia. According to FIVB, the 20 participating teams will be divided into four pools of five teams each and will play a round-robin tournament. The bottom-ranked team of each pool will play classification matches for 17th-20th place in a round-robin system.

Iran is seeded in Pool B of competition along with Czech Republic, Italy, Colombia, and Bulgaria. Vakili’s boys will face Bulgaria on August 22, the Czech Republic on August 23, Colombia on August 24 and Italy on August 25.

With two gold, two silver, and two bronze medals, Iran is the third most decorated team in the event after Brazil and Russia. Iranians won their first title in 2007 where they defeated China in the final. Iran has taken part in 11 out of 15 editions of the games so far managing to advance to the semifinal in eight ones. /MNA/