The 3rd edition of film artists association of New York will screen three Iranian animated pieces, including ‘Balance’ by Barzan Rostami and ‘Alphabet’ by Kianoush Abedi, in its competition section.

‘Blows with the Wind’, directed by Hazhir As’adi, ‘Balance’ by Barzan Rostami, and ‘Alphabet’ by Kianoush Abedi, have made it into the competition section of the third edition of film artists association in New York, US.

The American film festival is scheduled for 11-13 October 2018.

‘Alphabet’ narrates the story of people who have forgotten life and are separated from knowledge and truth. The animation depicts a nation that has forgotten the alphabet to life, cannot see, cannot hear, and cannot speak, but the words are waiting for them impatiently.

‘Blows with the Wind’ is about a scarecrow that becomes human to escape from a series of some unpleasant events. On his way, he sees two other scarecrows whose conditions are worse than him. Now faced with a dilemma, he has to make a very difficult decision.

‘Balance’ tells the story of soldiers who sacrificed their lives so that the people of the city may live in peace. /  Mehr news /

The secretary of 31st International Film Festival for Children and Youth said over 420 works from 70 countries across the world have applied to participate in the event.

Addressing a press conference in Tehran, Alireza Rezadad said the event will take place from August 30th to September 5th 2018 at central Province of Isfahan in national and international sections.

He added that the international section comprises the feature length and short fiction films as well as animation feature length and short fiction.

Rezadad underscored that the event attaches great importance to enhancement of social happiness in the society.

He stressed that boosting social happiness would impact the children and youth as the major capital of cinema.

The official reiterated that United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will financially support part of the expenses for the applicants and accepted nominees at the second Youth Filmmaking Olympiad in Iran.

Iran Youth Cinema Center is also seeking to pave the way for presence and cooperation of UNICEF in the Youth Filmmaking Olympiad in Iran.

He added that the festival plans to honor late Iranian-Armenian Director Zaven Ghokasian with a special prize for the first time in the history of the event.

Born in Isfahan in 1950, Ghokasian was graduated from the University of Isfahan in chemistry. His mother’s passion led him to become interested in cinema.

He was part of the jury in a number of film festivals in Iran, Austria and Armenia.

Rezadad added that a pair of Japanese filmmaker and artist Hayao Miyazaki’s animations including animated features ‘Spirited Away’ (200 1) and ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ (2004) will hit the silver screen in non-competition section of the festival.

He said selected films of France International Film Festival (Festimaj), and Berlin International Short Film Festival (Interfilm) will be screened in the festival.

Rezadad added that in this edition of the festival three books will be introduced. / mn /

A weeklong Iranian cultural festival will open in the Russian capital of Moscow next Monday to offer a variety of programs, Iran’s Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) announced on Tuesday.

Over 40 Iranian artists along with an official delegation, which will be headed by ICRO director Abuzar Ebrahimi-Torkaman, are scheduled participated in the festival.

Traditional music performances and art exhibitions, as well as film screening sessions, will be organized during the festival.

The screening sessions, which are scheduled to be attended by a number of top Iranian and Russian cineastes, will be followed by review sessions.

Several Russian Iranologists will be honored during the event.

The festival will also be held at the same time in Ufa, the capital city of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

In addition, the Iranian delegation will also hold meetings with a number of Russian cultural officials and figures during their sojourn in Moscow. / Tehran times /

The indicators of life quality, life expectancy, and achievements in different fields prove great growth among women in Iran since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Increasing rate of women’s literacy and life expectancy is one of the great achievement of the Islamic Revolution, said Masoumeh Ebtekar, vice president for women’s and family affairs, here on Sunday.

Various health services and height increase of Iranians comparing with other countries proves investments in this regard, Mehr News Agency quoted the VP as saying.

Only about 5 percent of Iranian women enjoyed university education in 1979 while currently the rate has increased to 27 percent, she explained.

Iranian women play active role in science production and technology, Ebtekar further elaborated, adding women’s economic role is still on the rise.

Gender equality is rooted in jurisprudential issues and implementing the equality in the society has been one of the goals of Islamic Revolution, she said adding implementing equality in the society involves different aspects, one of them is gender equality pivoting on women issue.

Housewives account for 30% of GDP

The value of women’s home jobs has increased in Iran after the Islamic Revolution and 25-30 percent of Gross Domestic Product is the work of housewives, ISNA quoted Ebtekar as saying.

Speaking at a conference on “feasibility study on the equality of male and female blood money” held in Mashhad, on Sunday the vice president announced that today Iran is more subjected to charges against injustice equality.

Currently, women in Iran enjoy a favorable social position, Ebtekar said adding about 41 percent of state employees and 30 percent of scientific board of universities are women.

About 40 percent of agriculture products are produced by rural women while their blood money still stands half of men, she regretted.

Today, the society’s viewpoint about women has changed greatly and women make great influence on society economically, she concluded. / Tehran times /

Iranian men’s national volleyball team trounced South Korea in three straight sets at the final showdown on Sat. and won the gold medal of the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Iranian squad put on a brilliant performance at the final showdown held in Jakarta on Saturday, defeating their South Korean rivals in three straight sets (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) to win the second gold medal of Asian Games volleyball contests.

The volleyball gold rounded up Iran’s medal tally to 20.

Defending champions Iran had handed Qatar its first loss of the 2018 Asian Games in the semi-final, defeating their rival team in three straight sets (25-23, 25-19, 25-18) to fight for the gold medal. The Iranian team had won against Pakistan, Mongolia and China in the three first games.

The 2018 Asian Games will come to an end on Sunday. With 20 gold medals, 20 silver, and 22 bronze, Iran is ranked 6th after China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Uzbekistan. / Mehr news /

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will financially support part of the expenses for the applicants and accepted nominees at the second Youth Filmmaking Olympiad in Iran.

The move is part of cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and UNICEF.

In cooperation with Iran Youth Cinema Society and Farabi Cinematic Foundation, the second edition of Iran Youth Filmmaking Olympiad will be held as a part of the 31st International Film Festival for Children and Youth in central province of Isfahan.

In the meantime, Iran Youth Cinema Center is also seeking to pave the way for presence and cooperation of UNICEF in the Youth Filmmaking Olympiad in Iran.

The Olympiad comprises two sections of “film” and “script”.

The movies, with optional subjects, must last for three minutes and this section includes children and youth aged between 9 and 16.

The 31st edition of International Film Festival for Children and Youth is slated for August 30- September 5 in Isfahan Province.

Presided by Alireza Reza Dad, the 31st edition of International Film Festival for Children and Youth is slated for August 30- September 5 in Isfahan Province.  / Mehr news /

Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Technology and Head of National Organization for Educational Testing Ebrahim Khodaei said that Islamic Republic of Iran was ranked 15th in the world in science production terms.

Country’s scientific production rank has experienced an ascending trend in the past two to three years, he maintained.

Speaking on Wednesday in the commemoration ceremony of 70th establishment anniversary of Tabriz University, he said, “since Iran accounts for one percent of total population share in the world, country’s scientific productions is equal to 1.88 percent of total scientific productions in the world.”

The country owes its scientific development and growth to the salient achievements of universities and higher education centers especially Tabriz University, he said, adding, “Tabriz University has managed to play an active role in the development of international cooperation and promotion of image of the Islamic Republic of Iran both in national and international arenas.”

He pointed to the salient specifications of Tabriz University in Azarbaijan land and territory and said, “this academic center has managed to play an important role in the development and promotion of higher education as the main pivot of development in the country.”

As the second old academic center in the country, Tabriz University is considered among one percent top universities in the world, he observed.

Turning to the credits and honors of Tabriz University, Khodaei reiterated, “some part of cultural bedrock of East Azarbaijan province, which has had an important role in the developments of the country, is indebted to Tabriz University.”

Presently, Tabriz University is ranked first in the region in science production terms, standing beside University of Tehran in terms of scientific growth.

In conclusion, Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Technology and Head of National Organization for Educational Testing Ebrahim Khodaei said that universities and academic centers in the nationwide are ready to help country to solve problems. / Mehr news /

Iranian ambassador to Yerevan and Armenian minister of education met Wed. to discuss future cooperation in the field of nanotechnology.

Iranian Ambassador to Yerevan Seyed Kazem Sajjadi met with Armenian Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan on Wednesday to discuss future cooperation in the field of science and technology.

In the meeting, Kazem Sajjadi said that there has been dramatic progress in terms of cooperation between academic centers of the two countries, while saying “but cooperation on some areas such as new technologies and nanoscience has not been taken seriously, while Iran ranks fourth in the global ranking in the field of nanotechnology and has made huge progress in this area.”

Sajjadi continued “if the Armenian side is ready, Iranians can transfer to or teach these technologies in schools, universities and laboratories in Armenia.”

He also emphasized the need to implement the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran and the Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia, as well as the document signed during the fifteenth session of the Joint Commission between the two countries.

He invited Harutyunyan to visit Tehran in a bid to provide the ground for implementation of the bilateral agreements.

Arayik Harutyunyan, for his part, said that there are different areas for increasing bilateral cooperation, saying that the’ 2018 Love Revolution’ has increased the speed and quality of cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan.

Harutyunyan added “we are confident that we will see a dramatic advance in academic and academic relations in the near future.”

He described Iranian people and government as reliable friends that will stand with Armenian when it is faced with difficulties and hardship. / Mehr news /

Colza production in Iran since the beginning of the current Iranian year (started March 21) has reached 355,000 tons, which marks a 30-year high, the director of Agriculture Ministry’s “National Oilseed Project” said.

The government has purchased colza from local farmers at guaranteed prices. Previously, it was estimated that purchases would reach 320,000 tons by the end of the harvest season, which is coming to an end this week.

The Iranian government’s approach to control the local market for strategic crops is to purchase crops from farmers in bulk, store in reserves and then distribute them throughout the year. /  financial tribune /