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Picture
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Painting workshop in
Mazandaran province
(Photo by Ali KanĠani)
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Tehran Vocal Ensemble in Spanish Gala
Tehran Vocal Ensemble will perform at the 11th International Folksong Choir Festival from September 23 to 26, in Barcelona, Spain.
The ensemble, which gave concerts at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall on August 19 and 20 last year, was awarded two medals at the 2nd Asian Choir Games which took place in South Korea this year.
There is no change in the arrangement of the ensemble members for the upcoming performance unless some of them decide to leave the band, conductor Milad Omranlou said during a press conference at Vahdat Hall, Mehr News Agency reported.
“After our success at the Asian Choir Games, the ensemble received many invitations by the organizers of festivals in other countries including Sweden, Australia, Canada and Spain,“ said Mohammadreza Zarif, the director of Honar-e Talaei Zarif Company which sponsors the ensemble.
Zarif expressed hope that the participation of the ensemble in various countries’ festivals will give other Iranian music bands the chance to perform in international galas.
Klapa Serpentina (Croatia), Female Choir Carmina (Estonia), Laulujoutsenet Girls Choir (Finland), Quartettverein ’Die 12 Ruber’ Hnsborn (Germany), Female Choir Eufonia (Italy) and Female Ensemble Tonika (Russia) are amongst the participants.
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Dylan Christmas Album Due
Bob Dylan is set to release an album of Christmas songs, including ’Here Comes Santa Claus’ and the carol ’O Little Town of Bethlehem’, according to music websites.
Rumors of the album first emerged on Isis magazine website, which is devoted to Dylan. It later reported the songs had been recorded in Jackson Browne’s studio in Santa Monica, California, in May, Reuters said.
David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, who played accordion on Dylan’s chart-topping latest album ’Together Through Life’, is one of the musicians who took part in the sessions, it said.
“It is a personal project of Dylan himself rather than an idea put forward by his record company,“ Isis said.
Billboard magazine said it had confirmed the album existed. Other songs included “Must Be Santa“ and “I’ll be Home for Christmas,“ it said.
Dylan was originally of the Jewish faith and was a Born Again Christian from 1979-1981, releasing three religious-themed albums.
“At first glance it may sound bizarre, but I don’t think Dylan cares much about what his detractors might make of it,“ Scott Marshall, who has written a book ’God and Bob Dylan: A Spiritual Life’ told bullypulpit.com.
“He’s both never renounced being Jewish or renounced his experience with Jesus some three decades ago,“ Marshall said.
Dylan, now aged 68, is currently touring the United States as part of his so-called ’Never Ending Tour’.
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Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):
One of the best deeds is making a true believer happy.
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Cannes to Show ’Certified Copy’
Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s latest production Certified Copy will be screened at the 2010 Cannes film festival.
According to Mehr News Agency, Kiarostami finished shooting his first film outside Iran and is planning to present it at next year’s Cannes.
Produced by France’s MK2, Certified Copy started shooting after a 14-month delay on June 8, in the Chianti countryside in Tuscany, Italy.
The love story stars the Academy Award winner French actress Juliette Binoche and will be in French and in English in parts.
Filmmaker, painter, designer and photographer, Kiarostami has received many prestigious international awards, including the 1997 Cannes Golden Palm award and the 2008 Glory to the Filmmaker award of the Venice Film Festival.
He has also held a photo exhibition at Beijing’s Imperial City Art Museum.
Kiarostami has staged Mozart’s comic opera buffa, Cosi Fan Tutte at London’s Coliseum Theater and the 2008 Festival of Lyric Art in Aix-en-provence in France.
20 Nations at Damascus Book Exhibit
The 25th Damascus International Book Exhibition kicked off on Friday with the Islamic Republic of Iran in attendance.
The opening ceremony of the exhibition was held with the participation of Syrian Deputy President in Cultural Affairs Najah Al-Attar and a number of representatives of the countries participating in the exhibition including Iran’s cultural attach, IRNA said.
Some 426 publishers from 20 countries will introduce 40,000 titles of books in the historical, political, cultural, religious, and scientific and children fields during the 10-day event.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, some gatherings are to be held to study different scientific, economic and historical issues including consequences of the current world economic meltdown and commemoration of the Holy Qods as the cultural capital of the Arab world.
Germany Screens Banned Film
The last remaining banned film from the former East Germany directed by Hans-Joachim Kasprzik has hit the screens for the first time.
’Hands Up or I’ll Shoot’ was banned in 1966 by East Germany’s thought police for its ironic criticism of the communist state.
State censor Franz Jahrow condemned the comic film for “defaming in a grotesque form the societal achievements of our republic“.
Starring famous comic actors of the time, including Rolf Herricht, Eberhard Cohrs, Gerd Schafer and Manfred Uhlig, the film is about an under-employed crime inspector who asks a psychiatrist to help him deal with the lack of crime on his beat, which caused him to feel useless.
The 88-year-old Herbert Kofer, who plays the criminal Heuschnupf in the film, was the only member of the cast or crew who lived long enough to appear on the red carpet for the film’s premiere in Dresden.
“I’ve waited the best part of half a century for this,“ the Guardian quoted him as saying.
“People expected that, because under socialism everyone had the same as everyone else and therefore had no reason to steal from one another, criminality would disappear,“ he added.
Bollywood Copy Case Settled
Executives at 20th Century Fox have accepted a $200,000 (£125,000) settlement from Bollywood film producers who they accused of copying their movie ’My Cousin Vinny’.
According to BBC, 20th Century Fox accepted the money from BR Films, creators of Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai, after taking the case to Mumbai’s High Court, The Times said.
It was the first time a Bollywood studio had been forced to pay out for borrowing from Hollywood, it added.
The Indian movie industry has a long history of remaking US hits.
Fox said Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai, which means This Guy is Fearless, was an illegal remake with scripts and a plot that were almost identical to its own 1992 comedy hit.
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