Culture

Al-Monitor – Iranian officials have so far resisted calls for mandatory quarantine of areas with high infections of COVID-19. Instead, authorities have shut down schools and mosques and have asked residents to stay home. With the Nowruz (New Year) holiday approaching March 21 and most offices closed for two weeks, officials have asked Iranians to not travel during this time as they normally do. …

PayvandNews – For many Iranians, the new year’s eve conjures up memories of holidays and traveling along dreamy beaches, silky warm seas, lush sceneries, and endless sunshine. Unlike any previous year, this year its travel market, both domestic and inbound, is taking a big hit over the peak season as coronavirus fears prompt people to stay home. “Iran tourism on the …

CHRI – In addition to renowned filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, three members of the Iranian Writers Association (IWA)—Baktash Abtin, Reza Khandan Mahabadi and Keyvan Bajan—have been summoned to prison as other inmates are being reportedly released to prevent more COVID-19 outbreaks, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. “I’m sure it upsets them very much that I made a new film …

theguardian.com – After much intrigue, one of the earliest copies of the 14th-century author’s revered Divan, illuminated with gold, to be auctioned in April  Gold star … the Divan of Hafez copied by Shaykh Mahmud Pir Budaqi, dated 1462. Photograph: Sotheby’s A “magnificent” stolen manuscript by the revered 14th-century Persian poet Hafez, which was dramatically discovered earlier this year by …

indiewire.com – Cannes and the European Film Academy are among organizations protesting the Iranian filmmaker’s prison sentence. Mohammad Rasoulof Francois Mori/AP/Shutterstock Figureheads from the European film industry have gathered to protest the imminent incarceration of Iranian film director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose film “There Is No Evil” won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale, which he was unable to attend because …

RFL/RE – Days after winning the top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof could end up in prison over his work, which has been branded by Iranian judiciary officials as “propaganda against the state.” But he refuses to back down.“I do my best, and the effort is what makes one happy and satisfied, the feeling …

PayvandNews – The South Khorasan Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department (SKCHTHD) has selected dotar maker Zolfaqar Beitaneh as a Living Human Treasure. The 58-year-old master, who lives in Ferdows, South Khorasan Province, has also skills in crafting a kind of reed flute, which is used in the folk music of Khorasan. Zolfaqar Beitaneh performing(undated photo) “Zolfaqar Beitaneh is the …

AP – An Iranian filmmaker who just won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear has been summoned to serve a one-year prison sentence over his movies, his lawyer said Wednesday. Mohammad Rasoulof’s sentence came from three films he made that authorities found to be “propaganda against the system,” his lawyer Nasser Zarafshan told The Associated Press. Rasoulof’s sentence also included …

RFL/RE – Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof won the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival for his film titled There Is No Evil, which he made despite being forbidden to do so by the government in Tehran. Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof Rasoulof was not present at the February 29 ceremony to receive the Golden Bear award for the film, which tells …

ShabtabtNews – For the past eleven years  the 22nd February (3rd of Esfand in the Iranian calendar) has been celebrated as the international Sufi day . This year the international Sufi day was celebrated by the soveida ensemble through holding a special concert in the heart of London in the honour of this day . In this concert the soveida …