An archeologist studies a stone inscription from Yazd.

YAZD, March 6--A project to document historical inscriptions in the ancient city of Yazd, central Iran, will be launched soon, reported ISNA.
Stone inscriptions installed in historical and cultural structures including mosques and caravansaries will be documented according to their contents.
They feature historical texts which still survive and are considered as living symbols of historical deeds.
The project is aimed at identifying the poets, writers and engravers and getting access to the social norms and court terminologies at the time the inscriptions were created.
The inscriptions mostly feature Aslimi-style designs. All of them deserve a thorough study in terms of the type of script, designs and decorations.
In addition to Qur’anic verses, the inscriptions feature the decrees issued by the kings.
According to the inscriptions in Yazd, the art of stonecutting dates back to the second millennium BC.
Some of the inscriptions are of historical and artistic significance and can be registered as national heritage independently.

TEHRAN, March 6--Head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) has said that his organization considers the use of the media and press as using rationality and mass intellect and pays attention to the capacity and concept of the media.
Speaking at the Third Conference of Media Council, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei further stressed the role of the media and press in confronting the challenges facing the organization.
He said that formation of Media Council within the organization did not mean guiding the press and imposing restrictions on them; rather it seeks to pave the way for further interaction between the organization and the press so as to solve the problems of the cultural heritage and tourism sectors.
Mashaei stated that Cultural Heritage and Tourism News (CHTN) agency, which is due to be launched, is the organization’s official site for disseminating news.
He announced that visas for foreign tourists will be extended from 15 days to one month, noting that if they wished to stay longer, they should refer to the Interior Ministry after one month.
At the event, it was also announced that presenting workable plans and ideas by the organization in the print media, offering consultations on holding festivals and educational discussion panels, reviewing the challenges facing cultural heritage and tourism sectors are among the duties of the Written Committee of the ICHTO’s Media Council.

Shahin Farhat

TEHRAN, March 6--’Tenth Symphony’ is the first music program that will be performed by the noted Iranian composer Shahin Farhat in the new Iranian year which begins on March 21.
According to the Persian language daily Hamshahri, ’Tenth Symphony’, which was recorded in Armenia, features an epic theme devoted to those who sacrificed their lives for the motherland.
The composition of the piece is complete and will be performed to the accompaniment of internationally celebrated conductor, Loris Tekjnovarian.
Meanwhile, a program featuring traditional Iranian string music instrument ’Tar’ will be performed in Spain in early April.
Parham Nasehpour will play the Tar while Masoud Naderi will play the ’Tonbak’, a traditional musical instrument also known as the ’Zarb’ and is similar to the goblet drum.
The concert in Ballinus, Spain, which will feature impromptu performances by the two artists of famous Iranian pieces, will seek to make Spanish artists familiar with Iranian Dastgahi Music.
Nasehpour will also perform other concerts in a number of countries.
Several artists are also planning to release a music album on the closing days of the current Iranian year.
Fifth album by Hossein Peygham titled ’Chess’, which includes eight pieces, will be released in April.
’Supplication of Music Masters’ featuring the latest group work of maestros Parviz Yahaqqi, Javad Maroufi, Jalil Shahnaz and Ahmad Ebadi will also be marketed in the form of two CDs.
The fourth album by Farman Fathalian will be released and a concert based on this concert will be held in June.
The book ’20 Pieces’ by Hossein Alizadeh will also be published by Mahour Cultural-Artistic Institute in the new Iranian year.

TEHRAN, March 6--The French film distribution company ’Celluloid Dreams’, which owns the license for distributing the Iranian film ’Offside’, has sold the screening rights to 14 countries and final accord on a deal with the United States will be announced soon.
The Persian language daily Hambastegi said that the latest film by Iranian director Jaafar Panahi won the special jury award of Silver Bear at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival which ended in February.
’Offside’ is a story about a football game which took place in Tehran during the Iran-Bahrain match as part of the preliminary rounds for World Cup 2006, Germany.
Several girls had decided to don boys’ apparels to gain admission to the stadium to watch the match.
Iran beat Bahrain 1-0 and could go to the World Cup. The film was acclaimed in several international events and its screening rights were sold to France, Spain, Australia, Korea, Brazil, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and the former Yugoslavia.
A British company, Artificial IN bought the film ’Offside’ for screening in the UK and the American buyer of the film will be announced in the next few days.
The other Iranian film taking part in Berlin International Film Festival was ’Winter’. Celluloid Dreams Company sold the distribution license for the film to a British company and Providence company of Brazil.

First grade Iranian plays and traditional drama will be given preference at Tehran City Theater.

TEHRAN, March 6--The halls of Tehran City Theater will remain closed from March 19 to April 5 during the holidays to mark the Iranian new year, Norouz.
Announcing this, Director of the City Theater’s Public Relations Department Mohammad Bahrami told CHN that performance of all plays will be suspended from March 19 until the end of the holidays on April 5.
The plays include ’The Just’ by Albert Cameo directed by Qotbeddin Sadeqi at the Main Hall, ’The Queen of Jinni’ directed by Amir Dojakam at Chaharsou Hall and ’Under the Shadow of Tragic Silence’ directed by Sepideh Nazaripour and ’God Sees Yahya in Jalil’ at Sayeh Hall. Other plays which are currently on stage include ’Red Nightmare’ directed by Mostafa Abdollahi at Qashqaei Hall and ’The Days Passed in Your Memory’ directed by Saeed Shapoori, ’Seldom, Is Also Possible’ directed by Syrous Hemmati at the Minor Hall.
Meanwhile, director of Sanglaj Theater, Mahmoud Farhang told ISNA that first grade Iranian plays and traditional drama will be given preference in the year to March 2007.
He said that the first grade directors in the field of traditional drama will be invited to bring the plays to stage at Sanglaj.
Farhang said that invitations have been extended to leading actors Ali Nassirian and Dariush Moadabian and hoped that they would accept the invitations and perform plays at Sanglaj Theater House.

LOS ANGELES, March 6--Urban drama ’Crash’ was the major surprise winner at the 78th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood last night, beating favorite ’Brokeback Mountain’ to the Best Picture Oscar, RTE.ie reported.
As expected, ’Brokeback Mountain’s director, Ang Lee, won the Best Director Oscar. ’Crash’s director Paul Haggis and co-writer Bobby Moresco won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar while Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana won Best Adapted Screenplay for ’Brokeback Mountain’.
’Brokeback Mountain’ composer Gustavo Santaolalla won the Oscar for Best Original Score while Hughes Winborne won the Best EditingÊOscar for his work on ’Crash’. In the acting categories it was a night for the bookies’ favorites with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon winning Best Actor and Best Actress for ’Capote’ and ’Walk the Line’ respectively.
George Clooney was named Best Supporting Actor for ’Syriana’ while Rachel Weisz won Best Supporting Actress for ’The Constant Gardener’. ’Tsotsi’ was named Best Foreign Language Film with ’March of the Penguins’ winning the award for Best Documentary Feature.
’Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit’ won Best Animated Feature.
The playwright Martin McDonagh--best known for his plays about Ireland - won Best Live Action Short Film for the black comedy ’Six Shooter’ which he wrote and directed.
In the technical categories ’Memoirs of a Geisha’ and ’King Kong’ won three awards each. ’Memoirs of a Geisha’ took the Oscars for Cinematography, Art Direction and Costume Design; ’King Kong’ won Oscars for Visual Effects, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. ’A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin’ was named Best Documentary Short while ’The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation’ won Best Animated Short Film.
’The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ won the Best Makeup Oscar while ’It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp’ from ’Hustle & Flow’ was named Best Original Song. Legendary film director Robert Altman was the recipient of an Honorary Award for, according to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, “a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike.“