The Iranian films “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness”, “Sunless Shadows” and “Coup 53” will go on screen at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland.

Directed by Masud Bakhshi, “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness” is about a young woman, Maryam, who has been sentenced to death for murdering her husband, Nasser. Iranian law allows for the victim’s family to forgive her and spare her life, so Maryam’s fate will be decided by Nasser’s daughter, Mona, on the country’s most popular televised reality show.

In front of millions of viewers during Yalda, the winter solstice celebration, Maryam and Mona discover that forgiveness can be difficult as they relive the past.

Mehrdad Oskui is the director of the documentary “Sunless Shadows”, in which he builds a remarkable relationship with a group of adolescent girls who are serving their sentence for the grave crime of murdering their father, their husband or another male family member in an Iranian juvenile detention center.

The documentary “Coup 53 “ by Taqi Amirani is a decade-long investigation into the U.S.-designed 1953 coup against the government of Mohammad Mosaddeq in Iran.

The International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, which is one of the most important international events dedicated to cinema and human rights, will be held from March 6 to 15. / T.T/

Iran finished in the first place at the 2020 Asian Wrestling Championships on Sunday.The Iranian freestylers won eight medals in 10 weight categories in the two-day competition held in New Delhi, India.

On Sunday, 92kg wrestler Mohammadjavad Mohammadebrahim clinched a gold medal with a 11-0 win over Japanese Takuma Otsu.

Ahmad Yousef Bazrighaleh suffered a close loss to Japanese Shutaro Yamada in the 86kg final bout.

Mostafa Mohabbali Hosseinkhani beat Sumiyabazar Zandanbud from Mongolia 5 – 0 in the 74kg and won a bronze medal.

And Parviz Hadi took a bronze defeating Tajikistan’s Farkhod Anakulov 10-0 in the 125kg.

On Saturday, the Iranian wrestlers had won four medals in five weight classes.

Mojtaba Goleij took a gold beating Salywart Kadian from India 10-0 in the 97kg.

Amirhossein Hosseini lost to Uzbekistan’s Ilyas Bekbulatov 10-6 in the 70kg final match.

Amirhossein Maghsoudi seized a bronze at the 65kg after a 2-0 win over Abbos Rakhmonov from Uzbekistan.

And Ali Savadkouhi defeated Kazakhstan’s Galymzhan Usserbayef 5-0 in the 79kg bronze medal match.

Iran topped the standings with 168 points. India became runners-up with 159 points and Kazakhstan came third with 146 points. / T.T/

The 10th International Symposium on Telecommunications (Smart Communications for a Better Life), known as IST2020, is to be held on September 16-17, 2020.

As reported, the IST2020 is to focus on quantum communications, satellite and space communications, signal processing for communications, al-enabled networks, access networks and power line communications and etc.

IST2020 is of a series of biannual events organized by ICT Research Institute (Iran Telecom Research Center (ITRC)) and designed to provide an opportunity for academics and specialists in the international telecom community, to meet peers and have exchanges on the latest developments in emerging technologies, as well as progress in standards, services and applications in information and communication systems.

The symposium will feature keynotes by world-renowned speakers, contributed papers, panels, special sessions and tutorials. /MNA/

Iranian wrestlers grabbed one gold, one silver and two bronze medals on the first day of the 33rd Asian Wrestling Championships.

The Iranian wrestlers defeated all their rivals on Saturday to advance to the semi-finals of the Asian Freestyle Wrestling Championship underway in New Delhi, India.

In the first five weight categories, Mojtaba Goleij won the gold medal in the 97kg weight category.

Amir Hossein Hosseini in 70kg-category settled for tthe silver medal while Amir-Hossein Maghdoudi and Ali Savadkouhi gained the bronze medals of 65kg and 79kg categories respectively.

The 33rd Asian Wrestling Championships opened in the Indian capital New Delhi on February 18. The Greco-Roman and Women disciplines have concluded with Iran and Japan claiming the titles respectively. The event will wrap up on Sunday that is the final day of freestyle competitions. /MNA/

Female cyclist Faranak Parto-Azar won a bronze medal in the 26th edition of Asian Mountain Bike Continental Championships in Thailand.

She won the first medal of the Iranian team in the event on Tuesday in the cross-country class.

In male’s cross-country, Iran’s Faraz Shokri and Farzad Khodyari will hit the mountains today.

Thailand’s Chiang Rai is hosting the 26th Asian Mountain Bike Championships and also 12th Asian Junior Mountain Bike Championships from Feb. 1. The points gained in the event, which will wrap up tomorrow, will affect the cyclist ranking for qualification into 2020 Olympics. / MNA /

Esfahak village in Tabas, eastern Iran, has won TO DO Award 2020, a prestigious prize which is annually presented by the German Institute for Tourism and Development.

The award is aimed at taking into account the various interests and needs of the local population in the planning and implementation of tourism projects, measures, products and services.

The award will be presented to representatives of the village during a special ceremony, which will be held on the sidelines of the ITB Berlin 2020, March 4 to 8, as one of the world’s leading travel trade shows.

Esfahak is a village located about 38 km away from Tabas with hardworking and diligent people who are mostly engaged with agriculture and animal breeding. Village houses are often built on a floor with domed roofs and small windows.Old houses were often built by the means of bricks and mud and are mostly one-story.

The original texture of Esfakak was completely brought down to earth in a 7.4 earthquake in 1978, according to local tourism officials. A new village was built following the quake next to the rocked old one with the participation of people who have now refurbished it as a tourist destination with abundant units. / MNA/

The fifth edition of the International Fajr Cup started on Sunday in Rasht where Iranian and Indonesian weightlifters managed to collect the gold medals.

Iran’s Hafez Ghashghaei and Bulgaria’s Angel Rusev were the sole two contenders in the 61kg category. Ghashghaei, the 2019 World C’ships silver medalist, snatched the gold medal of the Fajr Cup with an overall of 280kg. He hoisted 120kg in snatch and 160kg in clean and jerk while Rusev, the 2018 European Youth Champion, lifted 110kg in snatch and 147kg in clean and jerk.

The 2018 World Champion Eko Yuli Irawan of Indonesia did not have a hard time gaining the gold medals of the 67kg category. He finished on 310kg, with 138kg in the snatch and 172kg in clean and jerk – well clear of Indonesia’s Deni Deni on 285kg, with Turkey’s Bünyamin Sezer third on 266kg.

Indonesian lifters claimed another gold, this time in 73kg by Triyatno. The 2012 Olympics silver-medalist made 136kg in snatch and 170kg in clean and jerk to finish on 306kg while Iraq’s Mohammed Qaddoori had a total of 292kg made up of 130kg and 162kg.

Indonesian Ambassador to Iran Octavino Alimudin taking a selfie with medalists on the sideline of Fajr Cup
34 male lifters from 13 countries of Iran, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cameron, Indonesia, Bosnia, Iraq, Jordon, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Norway, and Turkey are participating in the event which is qualifications series for the 2020 Olympics.

Lifters of 81 and 96 kg and those of 109 and +109 kg will compete on Monday and Tuesday respectively. /MNA/