From l Afsaneh Bayegan, Mohammad Reza Foroutan and Bahram Radan in 'Can'an'.

Director of the film ’Can’an’, participating in the competition section of the 26th Fajr International Film Festival, said that the film’s title provokes a question in the viewer’s mind.
Mani Haqiqi made the statement in a session to review the film on Tuesday, said MNA.
The session was attended by the film’s producer Morteza Shayesteh, screenwriter Asghar Farhadi as well as the cast, including Taraneh Alidousti, Mohammad Reza Foroutan and Afsaneh Bayegan.
“The idea for the film took shape after I read a story. However, ’Can’an’ is a free adaptation and there are few common points between the film and that story,“ he said.
“I enjoy getting the audience involved, thus I prefer not to talk about the film’s name,“ he said, adding that ’Can’an’ took a long time to complete but the outcome was fruitful.
Commenting on the selection of the cast for the film, he said, “We selected Alidousti unanimously. However the tough job was to choose Radan from among 15 candidates. Radan was selected because of his calm face.“
Haqiqi, who is also director of ’Workers Are Working’, also said that a lot of effort was made to choose a skilled make-up designer. “The film’s lead actor, Foroutan, had to play the role of a 54-year-old guy and we wanted the make-up to be natural and not offensive.“
Alidousti, the lead actress, also said that she enjoyed playing in the film since it was quite different from her earlier films.
“I feel that my own character was quite in line with the role I was playing,“ she said.
Foroutan also expressed satisfaction with the film and said it was a great honor to be in the cast of Haqiqi’s film.

Tehran’s Mehrab Theater Hall reopened on Monday concurrent with the 26th Fajr International Theater Festival.
According to MNA, the hall, which had undergone major renovations since 2001, was officially reopened in a ceremony attended by deputy culture minister for artistic affairs, Mohammad Hossein Imani Khoshkhou and Director General of the Department for Dramatic Arts Hossein Parsaei in addition to other cultural figures.
Speaking at the event, Imani Khoshkhou expressed satisfaction with the trend of renovations at the hall and said, “The hall is equipped with full technical facilities.“
Stressing the need to launch more theater halls in the capital, he said, “There is a shortage of suitable performance sites given the rapid growth of population and greater public interest in theater.“
The official added that Azadi Cultural-Artistic Complex’s theater hall will also become operational by the next Iranian year (to start on March 20).
Referring to keen public interest in the 26th Fajr International Theater Festival, he said, “Theater is no more of marginal interest for the public. Dozens of people line up to get tickets for the event.“
Meanwhile, the hall’s manager, Shahram Noshir, said that Mehrab Hall, with a total seating capacity of 265, has been considered for religious performances.
He further said that the section for performing Tazieh (passion play) will host 300 people in the hall’s outdoor area.

Several British Muslims visited the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Imam of the infallible household of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi province, on Tuesday.
The delegation of British Muslims, which includes members of religious and charity organizations led by Moqbul Ali, head of a group working with Muslim countries at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, is on a visit to Iran to study expansion of ties in educational and research fields, reported IRNA.
A Friday prayer leader of a British mosque, Dr. Sharraf Hussain, said that one of concerns of the UK Muslims is the wrong impression about Iran which is prevalent in the west.
He called for granting scholarship to British Muslim theology students for studying in Iran’s Razavi University of Islamic Sciences.
Hussain also expressed his readiness to help Iranian theology students who are eager to learn English in Britain.
Chief editor of a British periodical ’Dialogue’, Nadim Kazemi, said that he was impressed by the artifacts and specimens maintained at Astan Qods Razavi Museum.
Kazemi hoped that more British Muslims will have the opportunity to visit Mashhad, the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), the eighth Imam of the infallible household of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and the beautiful museum of Astan Qods Razavi.

The 23rd Int’l Biennial of Graphic Design Brno 2008, the world’s oldest graphic exhibit, has selected five Iranian artists to join the event.
Saeed Ensafi, Vahid Erfanian, Kourosh Parsanejad, Mehdi Saeedi and Hossein Zahedi are the Iranian artists taking part in Brno Biennial, reported presstv.ir. Works of art in various fields, including graphic design and illustrations in books, magazines, newspapers and digital media are the main theme of the event, reported presstv.ir.
Established in 1963, the Brno Biennial is the oldest exhibition of graphic design in the world.
The biennial, enjoys an international jury consisting of judges from Britain, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Japan and the US.
The 23rd International Biennial of Graphic Design Brno 2008 will be held from June 17 to October 19, 2008, in Czech Republic’s southeastern city of Brno.

Notable film ’Jhani Gal’ (Agony of a People), directed by Jamil Rostami, will participate in the Mumbai International Film Festival, slated for March 6-13.
According to Fars news agency, the film, which is about Iraqi Kurdistan, was to take part in the Hyderabad Film Festival, however the director withdrew his film from the event since it was held in a non-competitive manner.
’Jhani Gal’, which is based on a novel by Ibrahim Ahmed, narrates the story of a man who by chance happens to join demonstrators in Sulaimaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan in 1947 and becomes wounded while helping an injured woman.
The film was recently screened in the 19th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival in USA.
Jamil Rostami is an Iranian filmmaker of Kurdish descent, who has made numerous internationally acclaimed films including ’Requiem of Snow’.

Dozens of encyclopedia have been translated, written or compiled in various fields in Iran since the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution given the relatively favorable grounds for conducting research works during this period.
After the revolution, conditions for compiling encyclopedias and dictionaries in different research areas have improved, said a report by Fars news agency.
The need for paying attention to compiling encyclopedias and dictionaries, particularly in the late 20th century, which has aptly been called the age of information explosion, resulted in experts of many human sciences to think about translating reference works.
The first encyclopedia compiled in Iran in a modern style and by making use from latest scientific and technical data was ’Dr. Mosahab’s Encyclopedia’.
Dr. Mosahab’s Encyclopedia was initially supposed to be a translation of certain sections of Columbia Encyclopedia. Although Dr. Mosahab used short articles in his encyclopedia, they were informative, precise and documented.
In addition to Mosahab’s encyclopedia, an encyclopedia titled ’Encyclopedia for Children and Young Adults’ was published after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Encyclopedia Americana, which was first published in 13 volumes in 1833, was the first encyclopedia to provide useful information on Iran and Islam to the West.
However, the most important encyclopedia of the time was Encyclopedia of Islam which was published during 1913-38 in five volumes and in three languages of French, German and English in the Netherlands.
Pahlavi Foundation proposed the translation of ’Encyclopedia of Islam’ to Iranian translator, Ehsan Yarshater in 1969.
Yarshater translated about 1,000 articles from ’Encyclopedia of Islam’, the first volume of which was published in 1975.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, many encyclopedias were compiled.
For example, the following encyclopedias have been published after revolution; Shiism Encyclopedia, Grand Islamic Encyclopedia, Persian Literature Encyclopedia, World Libraries Encyclopedia and Jurisprudence Encyclopedia.

Nikol Fereidani

Nikol Fereidani, a nature photographer, died at his home on Wednesday at the age of 73, ISNA reported.
According to ISNA, the artist, who has been wheelchair-bound for years because of Parkinson disease, passed away due to a prostate cancer and pulmonary infection. His wife, Monir Soltani said that in his will he desired to be buried at Imamzadeh Taher in Karaj.
Parkinsons had affected his speaking ability and he spoke with the aid of set attached to his larynx.
He learnt photography empirically and his numerous slides and negatives indicate that he was a prolific artist.
He has the books ’Kerman’, ’Mahan’, ’Gilan’, ’Esfahan’ and ’Iranian Collections’ to his credit.
Nasrollah Kasraeian, a photographer, condoled his death and said that Fereidani was a prolific and experienced photographer.
“He roamed the deserts and took photos and he was never satisfied with few works,“ he said.
Composer Fakhreddin Fakhreddini also described his death a great loss and said that he was one of the forerunners in Iranology and naturalism.
Feriedani has spent his life in nature and it seems that he was made for nature.
He was also engaged in depicting portraits of the Iranian luminaries for half a century, he concluded.

A group painting exhibition is underway at Bahman Cultural Complex as part of the program to mark the 29th anniversary of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
According to ISNA, the exhibition, which opened on February 2, is featuring works by Zahra Chitsaz, Venus Vahdat, Maryam Hashemi, Farzaneh Rahmanian and Mahmoud Mousaei-Sanjari.
Other art events which are underway on Tehran include an exhibition of photographs by Mohsen Rasoulof and Azadeh Akhlaqi, which opened on February 1 at Dey Gallery.
A solo painting exhibit of works by Jamaleddin Khorraminejad has been open to the public at Vali Gallery since January 31.
The gallery is located at 86, Shahid Khoddami Street, Vanak Square, Tehran.