“The Lovely Sky” and “Katvoman”, two shorts by Iranian directors, have been selected to be screened at the 63rd Zlin Film Festival. Written and directed by Amir Mehran, “The Lovely Sky” has been produced at the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults – Kanoon.

It will compete in the animation category of the festival, which will take place in the Czech city of Zlin from June 1 to 7.

The film follows an impatient fighter pilot who bombs cities every day. He returns to his little girl every night after completing his mission. The girl loves to fly, but the father doesn’t fulfill his daughter’s dream because of the bitter memory of his wife’s death. The war is getting closer every day. One day an incident changes their lives, forever.

“The Lovely Sky” won the best animation prize at the 2022 Roshd International Film Festival in Tehran.

“Katvoman”, a co-production of Iran and India, has been selected to be screened at the Zlin Dog section, which presents a selection of student fiction, animation and documentary work from all over the world.

Directed by Hadi Sheibani, the short drama won the award for best fiction at the 2022 Festival International du Film Amateur de Kelibia – FIFAK in Tunisia.

The film shows a mom and her son playing dressed up as Batman and Catwoman before dad returns for dinner. Through the play, the child discovers a difficult truth about his parents.

The Zlin Film Festival is an active member of the European Children’s Film Association. The festival organizes an extensive supporting, professional and charitable program.

Iranian filmmakers have always been frequent visitors to the festival.

Iranian director Majid Majidi’s child labor drama “Sun Children” won the Golden Slipper for best feature film in the junior category of the 2021 edition of the festival. / T.T/

Students from Iran and six other countries took part in the 17th edition of international robotics competitions (RoboCup IranOpen 2023) which was held at the Islamic Azad University from April 26-28.

Egypt, China, Afghanistan, Brazil, Russia, and Germany were the foreign guests that competed with Iranian teams in the fields related to robotics such as artificial intelligence and programming. / T.T/

The number of knowledge-based companies reached 8,368 in the past Iranian calendar year that ended on March 20, an increase of 90 percent compared to a year earlier.

According to the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, about 750 new knowledge-based companies were launched in the year 1400 (March 2021-March 2022), while in the year 1401 (March 2022-March 2023) some 1,400 companies were launched, IRNA reported.

The companies are mainly active in the fields of “biotechnology, agriculture and food industries”, “pharmaceuticals and medicine”, “chemical materials and products” and “machinery and equipment”.

Other fields of activity include “medical devices and equipment”, “electricity and electronics, photonics, telecommunications”, “information technology and computer software”, “commercialization services” and “humanities”.

The Innovation and Prosperity Fund has paid a total of 27.8 trillion rials (nearly $55 million) to support knowledge-based companies over the last [Iranian calendar] year, IRNA reported.

In line with the law enforced on May 24, 2022, knowledge-based production is a priority of the government so the plan for promoting knowledge-based products has progressed well so far.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei designated the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21, 2022, as the year of “Production: Knowledge-Based and Job-Creating.”

Over the past couple of years, the concept of a ‘knowledge-based company’ has changed to a ‘knowledge-based society’, meaning that supporting knowledge-based companies will lead to many social and economic advantages for the public.

The Leader reemphasized the importance of boosting domestic production, as he had done in past years, saying the reason he placed so much emphasis on production was “because it boosts economic growth, it creates employment, it reduces inflation, it increases per capita income and it improves public welfare.”

To this end, the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology has executed and supported several projects toward the goal of boosting knowledge-based production.

Moreover, the development of an innovation ecosystem is on the agenda, according to which 65 houses of innovation have been set up across the country.

The country’s progressing process of development has accelerated with the emphasis on the formation of the technology and innovation ecosystem and the approval of laws for supporting knowledge-based companies and boosting Iran-made products.

Today, we are witnessing the positive effects of adopting the approach in the economy, culture, and daily life of people.

the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy has reported that the sales of knowledge-based companies in the fiscal year 1400 (March 2021-March 2022) hit 4,000 trillion rials (about $8 billion) compared to the fiscal year 1399, an increase of 86 percent year on year.

Improving the scientific level of society, achieving high global rankings in the number of scientific articles, references, and patenting, reducing the illiteracy rate, and increasing the number of university courses and students are only a part of the achievements after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. /T.T/

The first locally manufactured simulator for training how to fly drones was unveiled in the presence of the commander of the Iranian Army Ground Forces on Wednesday. The first fully indigenous simulator for training drone pilots was unveiled in the presence of Iranian Army Ground Forces Commander Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari in the UAV unit of Hazrat Waliasr (AS).

At the event which was attended by army commanders and drone experts, general Heydari said, “Today, drones play an important and decisive role in promoting defensive and combat power of militaries, and it is a very valuable industry.”

Iran army unveils 1st locally-made drone flight simulator

Stating that the army’s ground forces have reached a favored position in the field of making drones, the commander added, “All borders of the country where the army’s ground forces are deployed are monitored and controlled with reconnaissance drones.”

The Commander of the Army Ground Forces considered the role of the UAV pilot training simulator as one of the important components in the training and education of UAV pilots and emphasized, “Today, we have reached a point of confidence that we can design and produce what is needed in the battlefield and this simulator is an example. It is one of the hundreds of completely locally produced military equipment and weapons in the army’s ground forces, designed and produced by domestic specialists.”

In the ceremony to unveil the simulator, several construction and welfare projects were inaugurated and put into operation in the UAV group of Hazrat Wali Asr (AS) in the presence of General Heydari. /MNA/

The acclaimed Iranian movie “This Side, Other Side” has been picked as one of the three best animations at the Bridge of Peace Film Festival, an online event organized in Paris, France.

In this short animated movie, director Lida Fazli shows we are always so afraid of the other side, even though we are all the same. When a war rips their world apart, a little girl and little boy from two sides come together to heal it with their magical crayon. But we all know that’s just fantasy. Real wars are not so easy to stop; the damage is not so easy to fix.

The film has previously been showcased in dozens of international festivals and won several prizes, including the UNICEF Award at the 2020 Biennial of Animation Bratislava in Slovakia.

“Shooom’s Odyssey” by the French director Julien Bisaro about a little owl who leaves on an adventure to find an adoptive mum, and “Life on the Move” by Osbert Parker from the UK about the complex reasons behind migration from the Horn of Africa were the other animations awarded at the Bridge of Peace Film Festival, which ended last week.

The war drama “The Blizzard of Souls” by Latvian director Dzintars Dreibergs won the special jury prize.

The film follows Arturs who finds some consolation in joining the army after losing his mother and his home. However, war is nothing like he imagined.

“The Blizzard of Souls” was also awarded as one of the two best feature films at the festival. The other one was “Reveille” by American director Michael Akkerman.

This film shows a group of American soldiers and their wounded German prisoners in November 1943 who are forced to confront their mutual humanity after taking cover together following a skirmish in central Italy.

“A Soldier”, a short war film by Nikesh Limbu from the UK, won the audience award.

The award for best documentary was given to “The Third and Fourth Generation” by Lukas Zund from Switzerland.

In this film, deaconess sister Silvia lately has been driving to the place where her grandfather was chief of a Nazi concentration camp. Her looking into her family history and her childhood trauma lead her to a turning point in the celibate woman’s life.

Dozens of films were also awarded in different categories at the Bridge of Peace Film Festival.

The organizers say the festival was established “to focus the audience’s attention on the pressing problems of humanity, in order to seek and find an answer to the question of how to live in a world without wars, without oppression, how to learn to respect the traditions and culture of other peoples, how to preserve nature and its diversity for new generations.” /T.T/

Iran stands among the top ten science and technology superpowers, ranking higher than Japan, according to a new report published by Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

ASPI’s new Critical Technology Tracker reported Iran ranked as one of the top 5 countries in six of the forty-four technologies tracked, and ninth in the overall ranking to predict the top ten future global powers.

The number of publications and citations along with the Hirsch Index was examined in advanced aircraft engines including hypersonics and the country stood 4th in line, next to China and the United States, clearly surpassing Japan, Italy, and the UK.

According to ASPI, Iran is also among the top four countries in bio-fuel and smart materials science and new technologies that are emerging onto the market which could change the future of the industry.

Iran has published 2 percent of the total number of worldwide publications in synthetic biology marking it as the 8th country in global rankings.

Beyond the usual competition between China and the US, Iran’s very strong performance in artificial intelligence technologies has become immediately striking. Most notably, Iran emerges as an unexpected powerhouse of hardware accelerator research.

Iran has long been considered among the leading countries in producing science in the world for many years. However, the Critical Technology Tracker has gone beyond simple research and has focused on the key performance measures of scientific and technological capability, revealing countries that have a competitive advantage in this measure across the 44 technologies.  /MNA/

Iranian young footballer Amirhossein Shirch died of a cardiac arrest on Monday. The 23-year-old player, a member of the Babolsar football team, passed away in the seventh minute of the match against Naftogaz Gachsaran in the Iran football second tier league.

The player has had a type of heart disease, Majid Pashna, head of the Babolsar football committee, said.

Cardiac arrest is a medical emergency that occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating. It can happen to anyone, including athletes who are physically fit and active.

In football, cardiac arrest can be caused by various factors, such as underlying heart conditions, heat stroke, or traumatic injuries. /MNA/