Some 81 researchers on Molana Jalaleddin Rumi’s works from 26 countries will take part in the congress to commemorate the eighth birth centenary of the well-known Iranian mystic and poet.
According to Fars News Agency, head of Islamic Culture and Communications Organization’s Cultural Studies Center Abolhassan Khalij-Monfared told the event’s News Headquarters that out of 156 noted researchers from 60 countries who have at least one work on Molana to their credit, 81 figures have been selected to participate in the seminar.
Khalij-Monfared, who is also head of the International Committee of the Congress to Commemorate Molana, said that scholars from Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Lithuania, Pakistan, Serbia, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the US are participating in the event with articles on Molana.
The committee will also arrange visits by participants to scientific and cultural centers in Tehran and Tabriz as well as exchange of views with Iranian cultural and scientific figures. He said, “We began by identifying Persian language instructors and researchers in February and issuing call-ups and consulting cultural offices abroad and now we are ready to host the elites who are working on Molana’s works.“
The congress on Molana will be held in Tehran, Tabriz, East Azarbaijan and Khoy, West Azarbaijan from October 28 to November 1.

Members of the selection board for the international section of the 26th Fajr International Theater Festival were appointed by the secretary of the event, Majid Sarsangi.
According to Fars News Agency, the board includes Amin Tarokh, Farindokht Zahedi, Hamid Reza Ardalan, Hossein Mosafer-Astaneh and Farhad Mohandespour.
Sarsangi said that given the significance of the international section in the upcoming round of the event and special sensitivity of artists and critics to the section, efforts have been taken to select a board comprising of competent artists, university instructors and experts from various theatrical fields to choose eligible works.
He further stated that contemporary humanity and human identity, as the main theme of the section, as well as artistic criteria and principles will be taken into account in the selection process.
More than 40 works submitted to the secretariat of the event will be reviewed from October 17-20.

A scene from ÔJesusÕ directed by Nader Talebzadeh

In the history of cinema, the mission of Jesus Christ (AS) has always been an engaging topic. The sheer number of movies made on this theme reveals the fervor of world cinema to illustrate the story of Christ. The most celebrated examples are Biblical epics which began with ’The King of Kings’ directed by Cecil B. DeMille (US, 1927). Among the other prominent Biblical epics are ’King of Kings’ directed by Nicholas Ray (US, 1961) which is perhaps the most remarkable and ’The Greatest Story Ever Told’ directed by George Stevens (US, 1965). Meanwhile there are other films with various mythological, humanistic and realistic approaches which in some way have unfolded new dimensions of this religious narrative: ’Gospel According to St. Matthew’ made by Pier Paolo Pasolioni (Italy, 1966); ’The Last Temptation of Christ’, directed by Martin Scorsese, (US, 1988), ’The Passion of the Christ’ directed by Mel Gibson (US, 2004) represent a number of various tendencies in making films on Jesus.
Regarding the variety and multitude of films based on such a critical issue, a filmmaker who attempts to re-explore the theme is supposed to introduce a new perspective. Good intentions aside, by selecting to do this remake, Nader Talebzadeh, a veteran Iranian documentarist has set a crucial agenda for himself. The captions of ’Jesus’ say that film is based on the Gospel of Barnabas, Jesus’ apostle and a verse from the holy Qur’an (Nesa’a, 156-158). Nonetheless, among its predecessors, the film’s viewpoint is closer to Gibson’s impressive ’The Passion of the Christ’. Although the film auspiciously lacks the extreme violence and brutalities unfolded in ’The Passion .. .’.
The story begins in 30 A.D. Accompanied by his apostles, Jesus (Ahmad Solaiman-Nia) invites people to the new religion. He delivers Sermons, performs miracles, encounters the conspiracies of Jewish leaders who trigger the atrocities of Roman general, Pontius Pilate (Fath Ali Ovaisi).
Here, the main difference is that God takes Jesus away from earth and treacherous Judah’s body (Morteza Zarabi) is transformed into the body of Christ, thus it is Judah not Jesus who is actually scourged and crucified.
The film primarily suffers the imbalance of content and form. The script is packed with many events and various characters, while film’s running time (almost 95 minutes) is too short to accomplish the task. Consequently, the people in the film are mere clichŽ and nobody evolves into a full-blown character. Even Jesus himself is stereotypic and extremely remote to be felt as human, prophet or transcendental being. The abundance of events and people in the film avert a deserved meditation on the religious/mystical aspect of Jesus’ assignment. Due to a hurried paste, the film cannot delve into their depth.
Moreover, the directorial approach is contradictory. The handheld camera scenes could serve the realistic aspect of the film (originated from the documentary background of the director), but combined with theatrical and exaggerated performances of many actors/actresses, add to the incongruity of the film.
I honestly wished that ’Jesus’ could present a novel viewpoint of Christ’s divinity and transcend the conventions of, for example, Biblical epics, but promises are not fulfilled and regrettably the film can’t even live up to the standards of those epics. Perhaps the film doesn’t manifest the full potential of the director and his crew, but as an experience, it may pave the way for further deliberation before shooting the next religious biopics.

The film ’Iranian Carpet’ produced by 15 noted Iranian directors was screened in Pusan International Film Festival, Fars news agency reported.
According to the Public Relations Department of Farabi Cinematic Foundation, the film was earlier screened in Montreal Film Festival, Canada, in which it received positive response.
Meanwhile, ’Night Bus’ by Kioumars Pourahmad and ’Those Three’ Naqi Nemati will be featured in the ’Window to the Asian Cinema’ section of the Pusan festival.
Darioush Mehrjoei chaired the panel of jury for the most important section of festival ’New Trends’ and a special category was also devoted to honor him.
The same source further said that the film ’Like a Story’ by Khosrow Sinaei premiered in Asian panorama section of the South Norwegian Film Festival.
Other Iranian films such as ’Mainline’ by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Mohsen Abdelvahhab, ’Several Kilos Date for Burial Service’ by Saman Salvar and ’Night Bus’ were also screened in the same section of the festival.
’Chaharshanbeh Souri’ by Asghar Farhadi was shown in the competition section of the festival.

National Orchestra conducted by Farhad Fakhreddini will perform a program in Vahdat Hall from October 17-19.
Speaking to Fars News Agency, Fakhreddini said that the program, which is to begin at 9:00 p.m., will include two sections.
In the first section, pieces such as ’Savalan’, ’My Land’, ’Appeal for Spring’, ’Eastern Color’ and ’Dear Motherland’ will be performed while the second section will include ’Color of Dew’, ’Yellow Bride’, ’Separation’ and pieces from Kor Oghli opera.
Stating that most of the pieces are Azari, he added that other Iranian pieces will also be performed without lyrics.
Expressing his unawareness about plans to perform in the provinces, he said that the orchestra is prepared to go to the provinces but all depends on the Music Association’s schedule.

An exhibition of artworks by innovative Georgian painters will be held in Saba Cultural Artistic Institute in late October.
According to Fars News Agency, the event, which is the first of its kind in the country, will be organized in cooperation with Tbilisi Arts Academy and Georgia Embassy in Iran.
The exhibit is the first of a series of programs to review contemporary painting in countries neighboring Iran.
The event will provide a valuable opportunity to further recognize artistic creativities, indigenous characteristics, cultural values and modern indices, which can pave the way for extensive contacts based on the two nations’ cultural commonalities.
The items on display include paintings in modern methods, which will open the horizon to traditional values, culture, history and ethnic legends in the ancient land with a modern approach.
The upcoming exhibit is a sequel to research exhibits, nine rounds of which have so far focused on innovative painters from East Azarbaijan, Kerman, Fars, Khuzestan, Kurdestan, Qazvin, Isfahan, Sistan-Baluchestan and Mazandaran provinces while four other rounds will feature Muslim painters including those from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Turkey.

A photo exhibition by veteran photographer Ali Kaveh is currently underway at Mah-e Mehr Gallery and will run until November 11.
The event features some 50 photos by the artist, who is gifted in war and sports photography, said Fars News Agency.
One of Kaveh’s significant works is a portrait of Imam Khomeini seen on the 10,000-rial banknotes.
Kaveh, 62, took up photography as a career at an early age. In 1968, he was employed by Etelaat Press Institute and began taking photos for ’Donya-ye Varzesh’ sports magazine. In the same year he went to work for national TV.
Kaveh, who retired in 1995, is still deeply involved in sports photography.
Mah-e Mehr Gallery is located on 12, Kajabadi Street, opposite Mellat Park, Vali-e Asr Avenue.