Some 16 countries are participating in the ongoing 14th International Press and News Agencies Festival--the first time the foreign media is represented in the event.
According to IRNA, Ali Reza Shiravi an expert with Foreign Media Department of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry announced that representatives from publications, print media and news agencies from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Georgia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Russia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, UAE and Yemen are taking part in the event which opened on November 7 and will continue until Tuesday.
He hoped that in subsequent rounds, the number of foreign participants will certainly be more than the figure for the current round.
Since the ongoing round is the first to be held internationally, there were problems in inviting the foreign guests, he noted.
Some foreign media representatives were uninformed about the objectives of the event, Shiravi said noting that through proper information dissemination, more countries would be encouraged to take part in the festival.
On interaction between Iranian and foreign media, he described cooperation between them as satisfactory.
Noting that the establishment of Islamic and regional states press union is among the international objectives of the festival, he said that once the entity is set up, news and information about member countries will be disseminated properly.
Some foreign representatives complained about the absence of Iranian media in their respective countries and called for their active presence.
Head of editorial board of the Yemeni newspaper ’September 26’, Ahmad Nasser Al-Sharif said that holding Press and News Agencies Festival in Iran will help break the isolation of Muslim countries.
Describing the festival as a unique event, he said that the event, which will definitely help promote inter-media relations among Muslim states, should continue.

A frame of ÔBobbyÕ directed by Emilio Estevez

Written and directed by Emilio Estevez, an acting talent of the 1990s, ’Bobby’ (2006) opens with newsreel footages from 1968 which was a year of political and social turmoil in the US. The scenes illustrate horrific shots of Vietnam War, anti-war demonstrations, street violence and Martin Luther King’s assassination.
In a country which follows a perilous course, all conditions are rife for the emergence of a savior who is supposed to be Senator Robert F. Kennedy from New York--a young idealist politician who thrusts himself into the race for presidency. He claims that is going to establish a platform for peace and justice and bridge the gap between races.
The film features a constellation of older and younger generations of Hollywood stars in almost short roles ranging from Martin Sheen and Helen Hunt to Elijah Wood and Lindsay Lohan. ’Bobby’ follows the stories of 22 fictional characters whose lives at Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Robert Kennedy’s campaign headquarters intertwines with the assassination of the senator.
They are as follows: a group of legal and illegal Mexican kitchen workers at the hotel talking of social discrimination; a young girl who wants to marry a young man to keep him from Vietnam; a female journalist from the former Czechoslovakia desperately trying to interview Kennedy, a young black Kennedy staff who envisages a promising future for himself, a female drunken singer who is deteriorating herself, among others.
These are people who all seek compassion and support. Actually, concurrence of few historical events, for example the election time with Dodgers’ baseball team match which Mexican young workers strive to watch closely has increased the dramatic potential of the film and enabled Estevez to follow various courses concurrently.
The theatrical release of ’Bobby’ in Tehran years after Oliver Stone’s ’JFK’ (which is also broadcast on IRIB TV) itself raises a comparison between the two films on the Kennedys. Here, the main difference is that unlike ’JFK’, ’Bobby’ doesn’t follow the intricate path of political conspiracy theory. Based on evidences, ’JFK’ meticulously details the plots and events leading to the assassination of John F. Kennedy and represents a horrible image of behind-the-scene machinations of US internal politics. Conversely, ’Bobby’ is entirely centered on emotional relations between people in Ambassador Hotel.
So, it is politically na•ve and simplistic or, better said, doesn’t concern politics. The myth making function of the film, its nostalgic tone may overlook various realities about the world of politics and deceptions it ensues.
Unlike its unsophisticated political approach, the film’s emotional impact process is well-balanced. Following such a process, as the final sequence when Kennedy’s voice is overheard from the scene of the assassination immediately after his victory, the poignant and nostalgic tone of the film reaches the climax. It’s a concise and influential approach adopted by the filmmaker to wrap up his film crisply.
While it’s difficult to say whether Robert Kennedy had been elected president, could he bring peace and justice for his nation or could the world witness a radical change in US foreign policy is an open question. Nonetheless, it may serve the film to accomplish its task of myth making, particularly in a country which enthusiastically looks for national myths and endears them fervently.

A concert of traditional Iranian music performed by a group conducted by Darvish Reza Monazzami in Madrid, Spain, was well received by Iranian expatriates and those interested in indigenous Iranian music.
According to IRNA, members of the band are in Spain to take part in a seminar titled ’Life and Thought of Molana’ at the invitation of Iranian Embassy’s Cultural Section.
The seminar was held on Thursday in cooperation with Complutense University as part of the programs to mark the eighth birth centenary of the well-known Iranian mystic and poet, Molana Jalaleddin (Rumi).
Members of the band directed by Monazzami, who is one of the most distinguished instructors and conductor of Tehran University’s Music Department, performed two concerts in Madrid, which were warmly welcomed.
The keen interest of the audience manifested by continuing applause forced the group to return to stage to perform another piece.
Monazzami said that such performances will consolidate bonds between Iranian expatriates and their genuine culture. He also hoped that such programs will pave the way for further introducing Iranian music to the world.
The musician called on the officials and media, notably Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting to help introduce Iranian music to the world. Referring to the features of Iranian music, he said Iranian music is among the best in the world.
If the officials and media extend necessary support for genuine Iranian music, it will regain its due status in the society and prevent the youth from turning to western music, he concluded.

Two plans were proposed by Iranian artists for promoting artistic activities in the country in a meeting on the sidelines of the exhibition of ’Iranian Art of the 1960s and 1970s’, which is currently underway at the Art Academy’s Saba Cultural and Artistic Institute.
According to the institute’s Public Relations Office, Najmeddin Farrokhyar, an art critic and manager of Graphics magazine, proposed that a comprehensive Iranian art encyclopedia be compiled and be made available to researchers.
He underlined that the encyclopedia would help researchers of art history to accurately evaluate developments in the Iranian arts.
Commenting on the Iranian art during the 1960s and 1970s, Farrokhyar said, “Most of the artistic works during the period were affected by social and political upheavals across the country during the two decades.“
Prominent artistic figure and researcher Morteza Goudarzi (Dibaj) also suggested that officials establish an art club for the youth where they can display their works in an affable atmosphere and have them reviewed by amateurs.
He described the 60s and 70s as the zenith of contemporary Iranian history and said, “The period was very dominant since it marked the transition to modern art paradigms in Iran. However, Iranian and traditional concepts have always been prominent in the works of modern artists.“
Another artist Sohrab Hadi also lectured on the developments of Iranian contemporary painting at the event.

The play ’Boy and Wolf Game’ directed by Javad Zolfeqari will take part in Lahore Puppet Festival in Pakistan which is scheduled for December.
According to www.theater.ir, the play was produced by Theater and Children Festival of Tehran Municipality’s Cultural Artistic Organization.
Confirming the news, director of the organization’s Performing Arts Department, Ali Akbar Qazi-Nezam said that this is the first achievement for children and theater repertoire and arrangements have already been made for performing the play at the event.
Commenting on the relationship between the organization’s festival and Poland’s Calitsy Festival, he added that the Polish event had earlier expressed readiness to invite the play.
He stated that a Polish troupe has proposed to visit the country and this proposal is still under review.
Describing communications among municipalities as effective in introducing respective countries’ cultural values and presenting its image to the world, he said that efforts should be made to consolidate ties between Persian-speaking and Islamic countries.
Meanwhile, the tele-play ’Sunshine Boys’ written by Niel Simon and directed by Mohammad Rahmanian is in the editing stage.
The tele-play is about two elderly vaudevillians, Willy Clark and Al Lewis, formerly part of a duet named ’Lewis and Clark’, who, having worked together for some 40-odd years, grew to envy each other, and in their last year together never spoke to each other off-stage.
The tele-play produced by the Channel Four of National TV covers four episodes each lasting 55 minutes.
The cast includes Mehdi Hashemi, Ahmad Aqalou, Afshin Hashemi, Mahtab Nassirpour, Hengameh Salehi and Shayesteh Irani.
The tele-play ’Death and Compasses’, which was produced by Channel Two of the national TV will be broadcast by Channel Four on Wednesdays and Saturdays for two weeks.

Eshtiaq ensemble, led by popular Iranian vocalist Alireza Qorbani, will perform a concert on December 23 at the French Africolor Music Festival in Paris.
Speaking to MNA, Qorbani said that the band, which was invited last year to perform at the event, will give a one-week presentation.
“Most of the pieces, including ’Wave’, ’Servant of Moon’, ’Fairy’ and ’Amber’ will be performed in the Dastgahs of Nava and Dashti,“ he said.
Asked about performing a concert in the country, Qorbani said that due to lack of planning and constant changes in schedules, the band will not hold any domestic concert at present.
Africolor is a festival of tales and music which aims to celebrate cultural diversity.