Culture

RFL/RE – Some activists and opposition figures in Iran have drawn parallels between the recent killing of acclaimed Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui and his wife and similar killings in the past that were ultimately deemed political murders Mehrjui and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, were stabbed to death over the weekend in their home about 30 kilometers west of Tehran, Iranian …

RFL/RE – Prominent Iranian singer Alireza Ghorbani has revealed that authorities in the city of Isfahan have declined to grant him a concert permit because his shows feature female musicians performing onstage. In an Instagram post dated October 16, Ghorbani expressed his frustration, highlighting the “Herculean efforts” made by his team to facilitate the Isfahan concert, only to have their permit application …

iranintl – The gruesome murder of celebrated Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui and his wife at their home near Tehran has caused shock in Iran with speculation abounding about the case. Mehrjui and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, a screenwriter and costume designer, were discovered brutally mutilated in their own home in the Fardis district of Karaj, located approximately 30 kilometers west …

VOA – One of Iran’s most prominent filmmakers, Dariush Mehrjui, was stabbed to death Saturday evening alongside his wife at their home near Tehran. A provincial chief justice said Mehrjui and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, “were killed by multiple stab wounds to the neck,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said. According to Hossein Fazeli-Harikandi, chief justice of Alborz province near …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities have ordered a poet and writer who has actively supported the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protest movement to hand himself over to serve an undisclosed prison term. The Culture and Media Prosecutor’s Office issued the summons on October 2 and gave Hujjat Baddaghi five days to comply. In defiance, Bodaghi posted a line of a poem by …

Iranwire – Two independent Iranian film associations have condemned the arrest of artists in Iran amid a broadening crackdown on critics of the Islamic Republic. The Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFMA) issued a statement demanding the unconditional release of all filmmakers, artists, and political prisoners incarcerated in the country. “Out of a fear that the women’s movement calling for freedom and …

Iranwire – Multi-disciplinary artist Hamid Rahmanian has his wife Melissa Hibbard to thank for kickstarting the enterprise that has occupied his every waking moment for the last 15 years.  It was in 2008, after he complained about an unedifying orchestral concert they had attended in Toronto, that Melissa threw down a challenge. “You Iranians always talk about how glorious your …

Iranwire – The Iranian authorities have imposed a ban on the sale of notebooks with covers featuring Walt Disney characters, according to the head of the Tehran Stationery Union. In an interview with the Tejarat News website on September 5, ahead of the new school year on September 23, Musa Farzanian said that violators face fines and the possibility of having …

VOA – The first production co-directed by Iranian and Israeli filmmakers had to be shot in secret to prevent possible interference by Tehran, directors Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Guy Nattiv told Reuters Sunday. “Tatami,” a tense thriller centered on a world judo championship, got its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival at the weekend, receiving a standing ovation. The …

VOA – Ebrahim Golestan, a renowned Iranian writer and filmmaker, has died at his home in Britain at the age of 101. His daughter Lili, the director of Tehran’s Golestan Gallery, confirmed news of his death this week. On Instagram, she wrote “Father, you have left us. Farewell.”Golestan was born in Shiraz and left Iran before the 1979 Revolution. His …