The Route 66 Film Festival has selected a lineup of 16 Iranian shorts to screen in its 21st edition, which is currently underway in Springfield, the capital city of Illinois.

The festival will be running until November 14 entirely online. An in-person screening of award-winning films will be held on November 12.

The acclaimed animated movie “The Statue” by Mohsen Salehifard is one of the films.

The winner of the critics’ award at the 2022 Khamrubu International Short Film Festival in India follows a sculptor who engages with the clay of his sculpture and shapes it.

“World Cup” by Maryam Khodabakhsh will also be screened. On the night of a couple’s migration, the child of their friend who has been entrusted to them gets lost, and then a secret is revealed.

The lineup also includes “The Savior”. Directed by Soheila Purmohammadi, the film tells the story of a little girl who lives with her father in a village. After witnessing her mother’s death, she tries to save the fish instead.

“Don’t Breathe”, a short fantasy that won the best film award at the 2022 Regina International Film Festival and Awards in Canada, is competing in the Route 66 festival.

In this film by Milad Nasimsobhan, the ruling power, in order to exert tyranny and increase oppression, has done something to its dissenters so that when they breathe they exhale smoke, and the agents must take such people into custody wherever they find them. Unaware of the law, a man meets one of the dissidents and it changes the course of his life, so he decides to immigrate with the dissident to a better land for a better life.

Among the films is “Cloudy Man” directed by Shahin Jalali. It is about an old key maker who begins to suffer from hand tremors. New reality brings painful consequences – the man finds it impossible to continue his career. The doctor advises him to retire, but the elder fears becoming useless and approaching death.

The lineup also features “Women on FEBA (Forward Edge of Battle Area), “Rain”, “Liberty”, “Pick”, “Middle Eastern Stories: Father”, “Silence Again”, “The Single Horn” (Unicorn), “Split Ends”, “Psycho” and “Painter”. /T.T/

For the first time in the country, a cruise ship route is planned to be inaugurated in Bandar Abbas, southern Hormozgan province, the tourism minister has said.

Allocating subsidized fuel could be an effective mechanism to boost maritime tourism investment and development as one of the missions of this ministry, Ezzatollah Zarghami explained on Sunday.

Over time, there will be more vessels, docks, terminals, and equipment necessary to serve passengers and tourists, he added.

The Iranian tourism industry, especially that related to marine tourism, is anticipating Doha’s response regarding docking this ship in Qatar during the World Cup, the minister stated.

Back in August, the minister announced that there would be an acceleration in the development of maritime tourism.

Fuel subsidies will be allocated to cruise ships, which will lead to a reduction in sea travel costs and a rise in maritime tourism, the minister said.

With this subsidy, fuel consumption for a cruise with 1000 passengers will be reduced from 600 billion rials ($2 million) to 500 million rials ($1,700), he explained.

Earlier in May, Zarghami and Qatar’s Minister of Culture and Sports Abdulrahman bin Hamad bin Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani met in Tehran, exchanging views on how to facilitate tourism during the World Cup.

The two countries discussed ways to further deepen tourism, cultural heritage, and handicraft ties by taking advantage of the World Cup opportunity in Qatar.

Zarghami suggested setting up a committee to plan and coordinate ideas and to make the most of the World Cup’s capacity.

Back in April, the Iranian media reported that the government mulled over a visa simplification procedure at the suggestion of its Foreign Ministry to draw spectators from neighboring Qatar, which plays host to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in November and December.

The Iranian government plans to grant a free visa to citizens whose national football teams qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for a one-time or a two-time period with a validity period of two months and a 30-day stay.

The minister said many people are interested in visiting Iran for its historical attractions and eco-tourism, to name a few.

Coastal and maritime tourism

Over the past couple of years, the Islamic Republic has made various efforts to exploit maritime tourism potential by developing hospitality infrastructures, diversifying sea routes, and drawing private sector investors along its vast southern coasts.

Prosperous maritime tourism could help the country to meet its ambitious target of attracting 20 million annual tourists by 2025. It also keeps an eye on tourism developments in the Caspian Sea in the north.

Back in February, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop maritime tourism and make the best use of its potential on the southern and northern coasts of the country.

Promoting the culture of using the sea as a tool to increase social vitality, developing coastal activities in the form of environmentally friendly plans and programs, and creating the necessary grounds for cooperation and exchange of knowledge and information was also among the topics of the agreement. /T.T/

 

A new solid-propellant missile paired with Iran’s homegrown air defense system ‘Bavar-373’ was unveiled in a ceremony on Sunday.

During a ceremony attended by Iran’s Minister of Defense Brigadier-General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, Commander of Iran’s Army Air Defense Force Brigadier General Alireza Sabahifard, and a group of the country’s defense industry experts, the new missile, dubbed ‘Sayyad 4B’, which has a range of 300 kilometers was unveiled.

In a recent test, the Bavar-373 air defense system successfully hit a target at a distance of over 300 km with the new missile.

The Iranian air defense system managed to detect the target at a range of more than 450 kilometers with its optimized radar and tracked the target at a distance of around 405 km before detonating it with Sayyad 4B.

Sayyad 4B missile’s engine runs on hybrid solid fuel and has undergone an operational test for the first time.

The new breakthrough has increased the range of the detection radar of Bavar-373 from 350 to 450 km, while its tracking radar’s range has risen from 260 to 400 kilometers.

The employment of Sayyad 4B also means that the range of the Iranian air defense system missiles has been extended to 300 km and the altitude of engagement has increased from 27 to 32 km.

Speaking at the ceremony, Brigadier General Alireza Sabahifard said that Iran is one of the few countries in the world that has been able to indigenize this system.

“As much as the threats advance, the ‘Bavar-373’ system and other air defense systems advance ahead of the current threats,” he added, saying that ‘Bavar-373’ is equipped with the latest equipment and technologies in the world.

General Ashtiani also said in the ceremony that the system has the ability to engage with 6 targets and destroy them. Many technologically advanced countries in the world aspire to have such a system. /MNA/

Iranian film ‘Shahrbanoo’ by Maryam Bahrololoomi has been nominated for the best actress and best film awards at North Hollywood International Film Festival.

The closing ceremony of the North Hollywood International Film Festival will be held on November 14, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Shahrbanoo has also won awards at the 20th Dhaka International Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival.

The film narrates the story of a guilty mother who, after years of imprisonment, attends her son’s wedding. /MNA/

The Iranian Greco-Roman wrestlers won the 2022 Greco-Roman wrestling world cup after beating hosts Azerbaijan in Baku on Sunday.

The Iranian national Greco-Roman wrestling team beat Azerbaijan to win the title of the Greco-ROman World Cup on Sunday.

The final of the World Wrestling Cup was held on Sunday night in Baku, Azerbaijan, between the teams of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, and in the end, the Iranian team came out victorious while both teams won 5 bouts.

The Iranian team equalized with Azerbaijan in the competition 5-5 and a positive score of 21-19 and became the champion.

The host team Azerbaijan became the runner up followed by the All-World Team and Turkey in third and fourth places. /MNA/

The 3rd KANS scientific competition will be held by Mustafa(pbuh) Science and Technology Foundation in 2022 with the goal of expanding collaboration, synergy, and uniformity in the realm of science and technology.

19 international pavilions will be present to solve the existing technological challenges facing the Islamic World.

The third round of KANS (Knowledge Application and Notion for Society) scientific competition is going to be held with a special focus on the Islamic World’s scientific community and young scientists as the future makers of modern Islamic civilization.

In this competition, young scholars, university students, and professors (under 45 years of age) throughout Islamic countries will send their scientific and technological achievements in the form of ideas, research papers, books, prototypes, MVPs, or new products to the secretariat of the KANS competition.

The main theme of this year’s competition is looking for the best scientific and technological approaches to solve the problems facing the Islamic World.

The 2022 KANS competition will assess the works submitted by young scientists from the Islamic World in the following fields: Agriculture and Food Industries, Health and MedTech, Energy, Water and Environment, Electronics and Robotics, ICT and Artificial Intelligence, and Mining and Mineral Industries.

Young scholars can participate in this competition by submitting 3 to 5 minutes videos of their scientific and technological achievements or their solutions for challenges declared by international institutes till December 6, 2022.

To fill out the related documents and upload their recorded videos, applicants can visit the website kans.mstfdn.org.

During the selection process, the submitted solutions and scientific works will be screened and reviewed by the assessment committee, consisting of professors from different pavilions. The assessment committee will then nominate 24 solutions and scientific works.

On the last day of the competition which coincides with the 12th International Innovation and Technology Exhibition in May 2023, the committee will choose the 6 best solutions and scientific works as the winners of the competition.

To use the full potential of young scientists in solving the challenges, the secretariat of KANS scientific competition has invited special pavilions in different fields of science and technology to participate in this event.

Pavilions are national or international scientific institutions from all over Islamic countries which have declared their local challenges and invited scientists and innovators to answer these challenges.

KANS provides the ground for proper communication among pavilions and scholars, thus taking a step in connecting young scientists and scientific institutions to tackle the aforementioned challenges.

Competitors in the 2022 KANS competition can submit an achievement that is a response to one of the challenges declared by international institutes in the Islamic World. If their work is not related to any of the mentioned challenges they can participate in the free section of the competition.

The first round of this competition was held in 2018 in the fields of Health, Energy, Economy, Water and Environment, and Information Technology with the participation of over 600 Young technologists and researchers.

The second round of this competition was held in 2021 in the fields of Water, Environment and Energy, Health and MedTech, ICT, Economics, Banking and Finance, Transportation and Mining and Mineral Industries with the participation of nearly 700 technologists and scientists from over 20 countries. /MNA/

The number of foreign nationals visiting Mashhad to attain medical services has jumped by 50 percent in the first half of the current Iranian year (started March 21) in comparison to the same period a year earlier.

23,000 travelers from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Tajikistan received medical services from Mashhad hospitals in the first half of the year, which shows a 50 percent increase year on year, ISNA quoted a local official as saying on Sunday.

“66% of clients were women and 33% were men, who received services from licensed medical centers in the fields of the eye, heart, gynecology, obstetrics, orthopedics, and plastic surgery,” the official said.

Last year (1400), Mashhad received 24,300 foreign medical travelers who were either hospitalized or gained outpatient treatments, according to Davood Khoshashkan, who presides over the medical tourism department at the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

Khoshashkan believes that Iran has immense potential to become a hub for medical tourism, adding, for example, Turkey’s revenues from medical tourism surpass Iran’s as the neighboring country possesses lesser medics and hospitals yet it does not have pilgrimage capacities.

Data compiled by the Health Ministry suggest the Islamic Republic hosts an average of one million medical tourists each year.

Many domestic experts believe that medical tourism in Iran is a win-win opportunity both for the country and foreign patients, as they are offered affordable yet quality treatment services and the country gains considerable foreign currency.

While most travelers strive to stay out of the hospital during the holidays, an increasing number of people are crossing international borders to get medical services.

Experts say, to promote medical tourism, it is necessary to recognize the strategic medical tourism status of each province in the country, supply a specialized workforce, provide high-quality services, improve infrastructure, and promote a positive attitude toward authorities to support the medical tourism industry.

Amongst Iran’s trump cards are the presence of credible surgeons and physicians, cutting-edge medical technologies, high-tech medicine and diverse specializations, super affordable procedures, and finally its hospitable people.

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

The Iranian movies “The Zoo” and “Where the Winds Die” have won awards at the 2nd Diyarbakir International Short Film Festival in Turkey.

“The Zoo” received the award for best film in the international competition of the festival held in October in Turkey’s largest Kurdish-majority city.

In “The Zoo” written and directed by Nafiseh Zare’, six-year-old Ranna’s mother tells her, “Your father has left forever. We will live together from now on.” The mother reveals this news at the zoo, after Ranna has had a dream about a deer that ran away from the zoo that same day and its cage was empty.

“Where the Winds Die” directed by Pejman Alipur was given the special jury award.

The acclaimed animated movie has been produced at the Documentary, Experimental and Animation Film Center.

It is about Iraq’s chemical attack on the Iranian town of Sardasht in 1987.

Iraq bombarded Sardasht in West Azerbaijan Province with chemical weapons on June 28, 1987, killing over 1,000 and injuring over 8,000 civilians, many of whom were permanently disabled.

The film won the award for best animation at the 2022 Fantastic and Terror Film Festival – Galacticat in Spain.

Lebanese actress and filmmaker Marilyne Naaman was picked as best director for her film “So Cool”.

The film is set in a corner of one of Beirut’s streets, while Nathalie is closing the bar where she works in order to welcome her boyfriend Amin. It’s an important night for the couple. They are going to celebrate him getting the role of his life in a huge feature film. But little did Nathalie know that Amin is also coming with a small news that will turn their night upside down.

A jury comprising Gozde Kural, Bulut Reyhanoglu and Banu Sivaci selected the winners in the international category.

The short film festival was established by the Diyarbakir Culture, Art and Cinema Association in order to introduce the Turkish city by bringing together short filmmakers and professionals in the area. /T.T/

Iran defeated Brazil 2-1 on Sunday to win 2022 Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup for the fourth time. Mohammad Ahmadzadeh and Saeid Piramoon were on target for Iran, while Catarino pulled a goal back for Brazil.

The last time they met was in 2016, when Brazil claimed the title. It was the sixth final for each side.Earlier in the day, Paraguay defeated the UAE 4-1 to win the bronze.

Russia are the most successful team, having won four gold medals, three silvers and one bronze.

Iran have won the title four times. Team Melli also claimed two silver and two bronze medals./T.T/

Directed by Ali Daraee, the Iranian short film ‘Graveyard’ is set to participate in two international film festivals in the United States and Italy.

Daraee’s short film is set to vie at the 15th Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF) in the United States.

The 15th edition of the festival will take place on November 3-13.

The Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival is an annual film festival in Philadelphia that shows feature films and short films by and about Asian Americans. Run by the nonprofit Philadelphia Asian American Film and Filmmakers, the 10-day festival takes place in November, with additional screenings held year-round.

“Graveyard” is also set to be screened at the 18th Terni Film Festival in Italy which is slated to take place from 12 to 20 November 2022.

The Iranian filmmaker Kazem Mollaie is also part of the event’s jury this year.

Written by Majid Halvayi, “Graveyard” narrates the story of Reyhaneh, who was the reason for her baby’s death. Now, in the absence of her runaway husband, she is looking for a way to bury the baby. She deals with various hardships but finally finds a way to get what she wants.

Daraee’s short film won the best film award at the 25th edition of the Religion Today Festival in Italy before.

MNA/