The Seventh DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, slated for January 23-27, will focus on a selection of documentaries from Iran.
DocPoint’s selection of Iranian documentaries, titled ’Iran! Iran!’ will present a fresh and unseen view of the country and its culture, hidden behind what is depicted in the international news media.
The program includes both classic and recent works by Iranian filmmakers, reported ISNA.
’The House Is Black’ by Forough Farrokhzad, ’The Night It Rained’ by Kamran Shirdel are presented alongside new films such as ’The Apple’ by Samira Makhmalbaf, ’Ladies’ by Mahnaz Afzali, ’Zinat, One Special Day’ by Ebrahim Mokhtari, ’Days Without Calendar’ by Mehrdad Oskouei and ’Our Time’ by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad.
Other documentaries include ’Golestan Palace’ by Ebrahim Golestan, ’Saffron’ by Ebrahim Mokhtari and ’Old Man of Stone Garden’ by Parviz Kimiaei.
Iranian professionals including Massoud Bakhshi, director of Tehran’s CinŽma VŽritŽ film festival and director of ’Tehran No Longer Has Pomegranates’ will visit Helsinki as DocPoint’s guests.
Films selected for DocPoint’s New Finnish Documentaries in 2008 include ’Shadow of the Holy Book’ by Arto Halonen, ’Plastic Soldier’ by Rostislav Aalto and ’Bam’ by Jouni Hiltunen.
John Webster’s ’Recipes for Disaster’ will also premiere in the festival’s inauguration.

A scene from 'Afra' directed by Bahram Beizaei

Finally, the play ’Afra’ directed by noted Iranian director Bahram Beizaei went on stage in Vahdat Hall after years of waiting for suitable performance facilities.
According to ISNA, while Beizaei’s fans were anticipating the performance of his earlier work ’Sohrab Killing’, the director announced that he plans to perform ’Afra’.
Beizaei said, “Performance of ’Sohrab Killing’ was suspended because I could not find suitable actors for it. Therefore ’Afra’ replaced it.“
Earlier, ’Afra’ was due to be made into a film but its script was never approved until finally it was brought on stage in Vahdat Hall.
In ’Afra’, Beizaei deals with the contemporary era more than his other plays and wishes that one day he would be able to perform it in a suitable hall. He said that the play portrays the domination of the society by mean people.
If ’Afra’ was performed in another hall other than Vahdat, the audience would certainly view a different version of the play, he said, noting, “Plays focusing contemporary issues are usually more sensitive.“

Many cultural-artistic centers in Tehran are experiencing fuel shortages due to problems arising from the recent unprecedented cold snap.
According to MNA, gas supplies to cultural venues such as cinemas and theater halls were disrupted as part of a precautionary measure to prevent gas pressure from declining.
’Vahdat’ was the first hall to experience gas supply cuts on January 8. This is while; the hall is currently staging ’Afra’, by noted stage director Bahram Beizaei.
There is also growing concern that the drop in gas pressure would create problems for City Theater’s Main and Chaharsou halls, which are presently staging ’The Visit’, directed by Hamid Samandarian and ’Wild Duck’ by Nader Ebrahimi-Marand, respectively.
City Theater’s heating system was installed recently and is inadequate to heat the entire complex.
Under current circumstances, the performance of rituals during the lunar mourning month of Muharram in the open air of City Theater compound is shrouded in uncertainty.
Tehran’s movie theaters, including Farhang, Asr-e Jadid, Africa, Esteqlal and Qods, faced problems in gas supply on Thursday.

Composer and music researcher said that based on historical evidence classical guitar originated in Iran.
Speaking to ISNA, Mohsen Danesh, a flamenco guitarist, further said, “Contrary to public belief that considers the guitar a western musical instrument, the guitar was invented by an Iranian musician Zaryab Shirazi.“
He added that Zaryab was a talented musician, living during the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 AD). He invented the instrument by making changes to the strings of lute, which resembles the guitar in form and sound.
Zaryab propagated the guitar in Spain and North Africa as he established the first school of Andalusia music in Cordoba--a city in Andalusia, southern Spain.
“Zaryab is quite famous in Spain due to his contribution to Spanish music. Even the world’s top flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia has named one of his compositions after Zaryab,“ Danesh said.
Turning to the flamenco music in Iran, he said, “Unfortunately, the field has not gained its due status in the country, though many are interested in it.“
Enumerating the reasons for this, he said that few flamenco concerts are being performed in Iran, the field is not technically dealt with, and there are few flamenco masters in the country.
Commenting on the origins of the word ’Flamenco’, Danesh said, “There are paradoxical views on the origins of the word. Some attribute flamenco to 16th century musician Flemins. Some say it is derived from a Dutch word ’Flemish’.“
However, most Spaniards contend that flamenco means fire, because it reflects the impassioned style of music performed by the gypsies in Andalusia.
Flamenco is expressed through three elements of ’The Toque’ (the playing of the flamenco guitar), ’The Cante’ (singing), and ’The Baile’ (dancing).
Flamenco music styles are called ’Palos’ in Spanish. There are over 50 different palos, namely ’Alegrias’ and ’Bulerias’.

Jalal Zolfonun

Zolfonun traditional music band will be performing in various European countries including Germany, France and Sweden in early March.Zolfonun to tour Europe, reported MNA.
In the first part of each concert Jalal Zolfonun will be giving improvised tar performances and the second part will consist of some of his compositions inspired by the poetry of Rumi, Sadi, Attar and Hafez.

An exhibition of 30 paintings by Kiumars Qourchian featuring Molana Jalaleddin Rumi, a well-known Iranian mystic and poet, opened in Bangladesh in cooperation with Iranian Cultural Center in the country.
According Fars news agency, the inaugural ceremony was attended by he Iranian ambassador to Bangladesh Hassan Farazandeh and several Bangla cultural officials.
Inspired by Iranian miniature, Qourchian portrays the role of imagination and thought on canvas painting.
His works have an Iranian identity and enthusiasts of genuine Iranian artworks are mesmerized by his style and way of expressing personal feelings.
In creating this abstract collection, he has used canvas as a ground for conveying his mentality about Molana and his thoughts.
The six-day event is sponsored by Iranian Cultural Center and Bangladesh Arts Academy.

Some 147 domestic media are participating this year’s 26th Fajr International Film Festival, which will be held from February 1 to 11.
Announcing this, director of the festival’s Public Relations Department, Habib Ilbeigi said that 20 news agencies, 52 newspapers, 23 specialized magazines, 37 general publications, 14 cinematic sites in addition to Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting’s (IRIB) 23 news and production sections will take part in the event, reports MNA.
“We received many applications after the deadline for submitting works to the event expired,“ he said, adding that some 1,500 reporters, correspondents, photojournalists, writers and critics had also expressed willingness to provide news coverage at the event.

The book ’Sadeq Hedayat, His Marvelous Works and World’, which includes lectures given in a ceremony to commemorate his first birth centenary in Oxford University, has been published by a British publishing house.
According to ISNA, the event was held in 2002, in which instructors from Britain, France, the US, Canada and Iran delivered lectures on the noted Iranian author.
Iranian lecturers included Mohammad Ali Homayoun, Houra Yavari, Bahram Meqdadi, Firouzeh Khazraei, Mohammad Tavakkoli.
Sadeq Hedayat (1903-1951) was Iran’s foremost modern writer of prose fiction and short stories. His works include ’Buried Alive’, ’Three Drops of Blood’, ’Stray Dog’ and ’Blind Owl’.

Nine Azari carpet designers will take part in the German Exhibit ’Domotex’, which will be held in Hanover on January 13.
According to IRNA, head of East Azarbaijan Commerce Organization Sadeq Najafi said the event will feature a variety of Iranian carpets.
He further stated that 30 Iranian artists will participate in the event, which will also showcase carpets exhibited earlier in Copenhagen.
Noting that 80 percent of Iranian entries at the Copenhagen exhibit belonged to Azari businessmen, he said that such events will provide an opportunity to introduce Azari and Tabriz carpets.
He anticipated that Azari businessmen will take part in 60 exhibits this year.
Najafi recalled that the carpet weaving industry not only has a high status in provincial economy but also provides a living for 400,000 people. He called for all-out efforts to develop export of carpets produced in the province.
East Azarbaijan exports carpets worth over $100 million annually.
According to statistics released by the provincial Carpet Union, some 200,000 people are engaged in the carpet
industry.