Culture

PayvandNews – Monday, March 20th, marks the grand festival of Norooz (Nowruz). On this day, Iranians usher in the Persian New Year at the exact moment of the vernal equinox which marks the start of spring. Norooz, a festival of Persian origin, Norooz is also celebrated by hundreds of millions of people from other ethno-linguistic groups in a dozen countries. Haft-Sin table …

euronews – What is Nowruz? It is a day that marks the New Year across parts of the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Asia. It can be spelled Novruz, Nowrouz, Nooruz, Navruz, Nauroz or Nevruz depending on the region. Where is it celebrated? Nowruz is celebrated by 300 million people in places such as Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, the …

PayvandNews – On Tuesday night, Iranians celebrated the ancient Persian tradition of Last-Wednesday-of-the-Year (Chaharshanbeh Souri) as a prelude to Persian New Year Norooz.  On the evening of Chaharshanbeh Souri, people make fires and jump over them. Chaharshanbeh Souri is an ancient Iranian fire festival dating back to at least 1700 BCE of the early Zoroastrian era. The festival marks the arrival …

PayvandNews – Iranian filmmaker Narges Abyar has won Best Direction Award for ‘Breath’ at 12th Vancouver International Women In Film Festival in Canada. 46 feature and short films were screened at the festival from March 8 to March 12, 2017. At the Closing Night Award Ceremony of Vancouver International Women In Film Festival on March 12th, the Best of the …

Al-monitor – The 89th Academy Awards saw Iranian director Asghar Farhadi win his second Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. His controversial absence at the Feb. 26 awards ceremony, in protest of US President Donald Trump’s travel ban, paved the way for a domestic celebration organized by the Iranian House of Cinema. AUTHOR Zahra Alipour Iran’s Ministry of Culture and …

PayvandNews – “The Line for Salute”, a painting by the Qajar-era artist and architect Abdollah Khan, has been restored by a team of Iranian experts. The painting, which depicts a long queue of the royals and elites waiting to salute Qajar king Fath’Ali Shah, was unveiled for the first time after its restoration at the Negarestan Garden Museum in Tehran …

Al-Monitor – On Feb. 27, around six in the morning, many Iranians were awake waiting to see if Iran would win its second Oscar. Finally, it was announced. Asghar Farhadi’s “The Salesman” won the Best Foreign Language Film award. Social networks burst into happiness, and Iranians celebrated this event as once again Iran’s culture became global. AUTHOR Rohollah Faghihi Iranian …

RFL/RE – Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won rave notices ahead of winning his second Oscar, for the taut “neorealist” suspense film The Salesman, but the reviews have been more mixed for his long-distance acceptance speech. By Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL Farhadi’s reaction to this year’s best-foreign-film honor — delivered live in Los Angeles by the world’s first female space tourist, Iranian-born engineer Anousheh Ansari, …

RFL/RE – The coming-of-age drama Moonlight upset La La Land to win the best-picture Oscar in one of the wildest finishes ever for the Academy Awards, while The Salesman, a film by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, won in the best foreign-language film category. http://www.rferl.org/5ae67b33-bf88-48c6-9188-b4ef4c259b9b The ceremony on February 26 was plunged into chaos when presenter Faye Dunaway incorrectly announced that …

IOPHR – On Friday and Saturday 17 and 18th of February 2017, ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of Sufi day were held in Hamburg and Hanover Germany. On Friday and Saturday 17 and 18th of February cultural ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of Sufi day were held in Hamburg and Hanover Germany. These popular gatherings brought together professors and scholars from distinguished …