Tabriz Submits Documents to UNESCO to Be Designated As City
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July 17, 2021 Wolfgang Mozart (Austrian composer) The music is not in the notes, but in the silence in between. 8Arts & Culture OPINION License Holder: Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Managing Director: Touraj Shiralilou Editor-in-Chief: Kambakhsh Khalaji Editorial Dept. Tel: +98 21 88755761-2 ‘A Hero’ could bring Editorial Dept. Fax: +98 21 88761869 Subscription Dept. Tel: +98 21 88748800 ICPI Publisher: +98 21 88548892, 5 Advertising Dept. Tel & Email: +98 21 88500617 - [email protected] Asghar Farhadi to Oscars’ Website: www.irandaily.ir newspaper.irandaily.ir Email: [email protected] best director conversation Printing House: Iran Cultural & Press Institute Address: Iran Cultural & Press Institute, #208 Khorramshahr Avenue Tehran-Iran By Clayton Davis* Iran Daily has no responsibility whatsoever for the advertisements and promotional material printed in the newspaper. It shouldn’t be a shocker that an international feature from Asghar Farhadi has entered the awards conversation with the vivacious and flavorful ‘A Hero.’ How the Iranian filmmaker chooses to frame his stories has always been compelling, and it’s a quality that has been Tabriz submits documents to UNESCO overlooked by the Academy in his tenure. Perhaps, this could be his ticket to an overdue directing nomination. The film tells the story of Rahim (Amir Jadidi), who is in prison for a debt that he was unable to pay. During a two-day leave, an act of to be designated as City of Literature kindness provides Rahim with an opportunity to convince his credi- tor to withdraw the complaint so he can go free, but not everything goes as planned. ran submitted the dossier of its northwestern city The network was launched in 2004, and now has Farhadi, who serves of Tabriz, in Azarbaijan Province, to UNESCO, to member cities in seven creative fields. The other as the writer, direc- Ibe named as the City of Literature, said the mayor creative fields consist of crafts and folk arts, design, tor and producer of of Tabriz. film, gastronomy, media arts, and music. ‘A Hero,’ is one of the Iraj Shahin-Baher said on Friday that Tabriz is the The Cultural Commission and Islamic Council of most assured film- cradle of outstanding literary schools of thought, add- Tabriz previously ratified a plan to join the city to makers working in our ing that the city has been a meeting place for scientists, the network, he said, adding that UNESCO’s experts industry. He knows ex- poets and literary scholars, including Saeb, Shams, visited Tabriz Municipality and paved the ground for actly what type of films Mohammad Fozuli, Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar, the designation of the city to the organization’s list of he wants to create, and Parvin Etesami and Homam in the last 1,000 years. creative cities of literature. the Academy has re- Tabriz enjoys precious and vast capacity for global The mayor also expressed hope that finalizing the sponded with two Os- exchanges and it would be an honor to gain the desig- designation by UNESCO will bring good results for cars for his past inter- nation of UNESCO’s City of Literature, which is part the city in terms of cultural, tourism and economic VARIETY national submissions of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network (UCCN). fields. IRNA — ‘A Separation’ (2011) and ‘The Salesman’ (2016) — the former of which was also nominated for original screenplay. If Iran chooses to submit the Persian-language entry for the Academy Awards, he could Iran, China ink deal to expand be in line to win the third statue for his native land, which would put Kiarostami’s films to be screened him one short of the record held by Italian filmmaker Federico Fell- ini, who directed four winning movies during his lifetime. With the museum cooperation backing of a distributor like Amazon Studios putting muscle behind in Moscow festival the film, they could tap into the pocket of the Academy that loves a This museum is one story that explores themes like honor and redemption. All films made by legendary Iranian ative vision. It will run through July of the international However, a technical yet sad fact is that Farhadi is not an Oscar filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami will be 20. exhibition halls for winner. Though two of his past films — ‘A Separation’ (2011) and screened at a program named Retro- The second section will feature research on the origins ‘The Salesman’ (2016) — have both won for best international fea- spective at Garage Screen summer films that marked the beginning of of human civilization ture, per the Academy Awards rules, the award is not presented to a cinema in Russia’s capital Moscow. Kiarostami’s exploration of the na- and cultural exchang- specific individual, despite it typically being accepted by the film- ture of film and the moving image es between East and maker on stage. Instead, it’s considered an award for the submitting and their connection with physical West, Yuan said. country. If it weren’t for his surprising and deserving nomination for reality. It will be held from July 14 to ISNA He also reminded original screenplay in 2011, he still would be without a nomination. 24. that Peking Univer- This explains why a filmmaker like Alfonso Cuarón only has four The third section, slated for July 28 Arts & Culture Desk sity is the first university established in Chi- nominations for ‘Roma’ (2019) and not five, which would have been to August 7, will bring together the na with the purpose of studying the Chinese one short of the Walt Disney record of six. This rule also differs from best known films of Kiarostami, shot The National Museum of Iran and Peking civilization and to understand other civiliza- the BAFTA Awards, which gives the distinction to the producer and in the early and mid-1990s, which University in China signed a memorandum tions of the world. director. The Academy Board of Governors should consider amend- brought him international acclaim. of understanding to expand museum coop- “Although we live in East and West Asia ing the rules. The fourth section is focused on eration. and our meeting is only virtual, the desire So, what are the awards chances for ‘A Hero’ outside of the inter- Kiarostami’s first digital films – the The agreement was signed virtually with for understanding allows us to follow in the national feature category, if any? experimental works that naturally re- the head of the Iranian museum, Jebrael No- footsteps of our ancestors and move closer There have been 34 occurrences of filmmakers of non-English lan- animated the magic of classical cin- kandeh, and the Chinese university counsel- to each other so these countries’ ancient civ- guage films getting a best director nomination, beginning with Fellini ema in a new form. This section will or, Jian Yuan, in attendance, IRNA reported. ilizations will shine,” he noted. for ‘La Dolce Vita’ (1961). Since the expansion of the best picture slantmagazine.com run from August 18 to 25. The Chinese counselor considered China Nokandeh said, “The National Museum field in 2009, there have been six — Michael Haneke (‘Amour’), The fifth section of the retrospec- and Iran as the birthplaces of human civili- of Iran has expanded its ties with Chinese Cuarón (‘Roma’), Pawel Pawlikowski (‘Cold War’), Bong Joon- The retrospective consists of five tive, from August 28 to September 8, zation. institutions and museums, and by attending ho (‘Parasite’), Lee Isaac Chung (‘Minari’) and Thomas Vinterberg sections: ‘Before the Revolution,’ will present Kiarostami’s later films, “Although there is a great geographical two exhibitions of ‘The Splendor of Asia: (‘Another Round’). Pawlikowski and Vinterberg made their respec- ‘Dismantling the Fourth Wall,’ ‘In- shot in the late 2000s and early 2010s. distance between the two countries, since An Exhibition of Asian Civilizations,’ and tive lineups both without their films being nominated for best picture, ternational Recognition,’ ‘The Magic Kiarostami was the first Iranian di- ancient times, both countries have had close the ‘Longquan of the World: Longquan Ce- and another foreign language director alongside them. As Farhadi’s of the Digital,’ and ‘A Return to the rector to win a Palme d’Or at Cannes. exchanges along the Silk Road via land and ladon and Globalization,’ it has been able career continues to challenge itself in terms of scope and narrative New, ’according to garagemca.org. He is among the few turn-of-the- sea. And this created cultural and economic to take effective steps to strengthen cultural themes, ‘A Hero’ makes a compelling case for his first nomination for The first section of the program in- century filmmakers who were able exchanges, and the prosperity of Eastern cooperation.” director, even if the film may have a more laborious time making the cludes early shorts and features made to naturally capture the very spirit of and Western civilizations.” He added that the National Museum of wider field lineup. Better known as the “lone director,” we’ve seen in the 1970s, before the Islamic Revo- cinema – its unknowable nature and The National Museum of Iran has numerous Iran enjoys a huge treasure trove of archaeo- them multiple times in Oscar history with Pedro Almodóvar (‘Talk to lution – and Kiarostami’s personal deeply poetic, irrational relationship collections with strong research capabilities and logical findings and a great history in hold- Her’), Fernando Meirelles (‘City of God’) and Julian Schnabel (‘The revolution that transformed his cre- with reality and the human being. is highly rich in terms of Iranian civilization. ing exhibitions and conducting research. Diving Bell and the Butterfly’). Farhadi could join those ranks if it picks up enough traction. Jadidi, who plays the sentimental and intriguing Rahim, delivers, The world’s rarest stamp is returning to signer Stuart Weitzman.