Ali-Reza Pahlavi was born on 28 April 1966. He lived in the U.S. where he received a Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a Masters of Arts degree from Columbia University, and studied at Harvard University as a Ph.D. student in ancient Iranian studies and philology.
The youngest son of the late shah of Iran was found dead Tuesday of an apparent suicide at his home in Boston, after he had “struggled for years to overcome his sorrow,” his brother said.

Ali-Reza Pahlavi residence - Photo: Charles Krupa - Associated Press

Boston police said they found a man dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday at a home in the city’s South End neighborhood.

Alireza Pahlavi’s sister, princess Leila Pahlavi, died in 2001 at the age of 31 when her body was found in a London hotel. It was noted that she had taken a fatal cocktail of prescription drugs and cocaine. Alireza Pahlavi’s father, Shah of Iran died in July 1980 and is buried in Cairo.

Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, said in a statement that “the Iranian-American community was deeply saddened by the news of this tragedy.

“There are many divisions in the community, but on a day like this, I think we are all united in our sympathy with the Pahlavi family for their tragic and painful loss,” Parsi said.

Pahlavi is survived by his oldest brother, his mother, his sister Farahnaz, and his half-sister Shahnaz.

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Born: April 28 1966
Place of Birth: Tehran

Primary School: 1970 — 1974 Lycée Razi, Tehran
Primary School: 1974 — 1979 Niavaran Palace School, Tehran

Secondary School: 1979 — 1980 St. David’s School New York City
High School: 1980 — 1981 American College Cairo, Egypt

High School: 1981—1984 Mt. Greylock Regional High School, Williamstown Massachusetts
Under Graduate: 1984 — 1988 Princeton University B.A. (Music/Ethnomusicology)

Graduate School: 1988—1992, Columbia University M.A. (Ancient Iranian Studies)
Post Graduate: Harvard University (ancient Iranian Studies & Philology)

Hobbies: Sky Diving, Scuba Diving, Reading, Flying.

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It is commemorated by Shia Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10 Muharram in the year 61 AH (October 2, 680 CE).

One ritual is the Kharrah Mali, or mud-rubbing, in which devotees roll in mud, dry themselves by a fire.

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Photo Source : Ibrahim Nowruzi from IIPA

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Khuzestan is inhabited by a number of ethnic minorities and peoples: Autochthonous Persians in major cities, Iranian Arabs, the Bakhtiari Lurs, Behbahanis, Mizrahi Jews, Laks, and other Lurs of the north, the Turkic-speaking Qashqai and Afshari tribes, the Khuzis of Shush/Susa, Dezful, Shushtar, Andimeshk and the inhabitants of the coastal regions of the Persian Gulf all make up the population of the province of Khuzestan.

Khuzestan province is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq’s Basra Province and the Persian Gulf.

It’s mentioned that historically Khuzestan is what historians refer to as ancient Elam, whose capital was in Susa. Khuzestan refers to the original inhabitants of this province, the “Susian” people. Khouzi is also referred to as people who make raw sugar from sugar cane fields of northern sussanian planes up to Dezh river side in Dezhpol.

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Photo Source:  Amin Nazari ISNA

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The reconstructed version of the 5,000-year-old skeleton was unveiled during a ceremony attended by head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Hamid Baqaei and Iran’s ambassador to Italy Seyyed Mohammad-Ali Hosseini.

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The world's oldest artificial eyeball was found on a female skeletal remains

The woman, whose face has been reconstructed by a group of Iranian and Italian researchers, is famous for carrying the first prosthesis to have been used by man, ISNA reported.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a great scientific achievement which shows that Persians used innovative medical equipment 5,000 years ago, Baqaei said during the opening ceremony of the exhibition.

The unique discovery was the result of excavations in the Burnt City in 2006, when archaeologists found an artificial eyeball on a 1.82-meter- tall female skeleton, much taller than ordinary women of her time, and dated back to between 2900 and 2800 BCE.

The eyeball had a hemispherical form with a diameter of just over 2.5 cm and was made of very light material. The surface was covered with a thin golden layer, engraved with a central circle to represent the iris.

The eye was held in place with a golden thread, which went through tiny holes drilled on both sides of the eye.

Microscopic studies showed that the eye socket bore imprints of the golden thread, which suggest that the eyeball had been worn during its owner’s lifetime.

Iran's Burnt city Eye Ball - parallel lines drawn around the pupil to form a diamond shape

Italian archaeologist and researcher with Rome’s National Museum of Oriental Art Professor Lorenzo Costantini said that the face of the artificial eyeball’s owner has been reconstructed using computer programs and criminology science.

“Head of the Burnt City archeology team Seyyed Mansour Seyyed Sajjadi greatly contributed to the joint Iranian-Italian project”” he added.

The Burnt City is located near the city of Zabol, in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan and is considered Iran’s largest prehistoric site.

The Burnt City archeological site

Spanning more than 300,000 hectares, the site dates back to 5,200 years ago. Four civilizations have lived in the city which was burnt down three times and not rebuilt after the last fire.

The world’s oldest animated picture, a dice and backgammon set, and the earliest known caraway are among the most significant discoveries at the site.

The world's earliest dice where found during Burnt City excavations.

Text Source: Cultural Heritage News Agency

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The complex was first inhabited by Qajar monarchs and royal family in the 19th century. After an expansion of the compounds, Reza Shah lived there in the 1920s. And his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi moved there in the 1970s.

After the Iranian Revolution, the complex became a museum. However, the current presidential palace is located adjacent to the Sa’d Abad compound.

Sadabad Palace Complex Map

Currently, parts of the Saadabad Palace compound are museums, in which visitors can roam through and look at the rich history of Iran, and some parts of the compound are used by the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization which is responsible for most of the artifacts, locations, and cultural aspects of Iran. Also, the palace named “Kakhe malakeye madar” nowadays belongs to the presidency organization, and hosts the president’s foreign guests.

South Gate

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Reza Shah's Guests Waiting Room

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Farah Pahlavi's Ceremonial Dress

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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's resting place , in Joséphine (wife of Napoléon) style

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Billiard Room in the Palace of Nation

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Reza Shah's Office

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Reza Shah's Bedroom, the bed was added later by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as Reza Shah used to sleep on the floor

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Formal Reception Room in Nation Palace, Used to Receive Ambassadors

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Living Hall for Private Meetings and Family Resting Place

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Reza Shah's Car

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Nature Around the Palaces

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Ceremonial Clothing at the Museum of Contemporary History

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Reza Shah's Clothes at the Museum of Contemporary History

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Farah Pahlavi's resting room in the Palace of Nation

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Exterior of Museum of Contemporary History

Source: Mohammadreza Alimadady IRNA

Sa’dabad Palace web site

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The wooden blades of these windmills turn the grinding stones in a room made of clay.

The name of the village, Nash-Tifan, is a combination of two words meaning bite(of)typhoon in English. Fist part, Nash is a localized Persian word for Nish – meaning bite, and the second word, Tifan is a localizied Persian word for Toofaun (Typhoon in English and Táifēng in Chiness).

Map of Safavid and approximate location of Nashtifan

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Windmills of Nashtifan

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Photos: Amir Ghaderi Mehr News Agency

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2. Khavarani Art Seeks to Link the Centuries

Echoes in Blue, an exhibition of contemporary Iranian paintings, provides a vibrant and thought-provoking view of life within the boundaries of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Curated by Iranian-born Homa Taraji, in association with Dr. Alireza Sami Azar, former director of Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and a consultant to Christie’s, this show features 10 artists living and working in Iran today and is intended to introduce their work to Americans.

The show runs from October 16 through November 14, 2010 at the James Gray Gallery in Los Angeles, with an opening reception on Saturday, October 16 from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Though the Iranian government requires that artists refrain from topics like religion and politics, Echoes in Blue clearly reflects the life struggles that exist in the long-lasting revolutionary state. The title is from a poem by the renowned Iranian female poet Forough Farrokhzad (1935-1967), in which
she reminisces about the echoes of blue in Isfahan, a world-famous Iranian city with hundreds of historic structures, built primarily in blue tiles. The poem, like the exhibition, is a reflection of Iranian culture.

Hossein Khosrojerdi, who participated in the Venice Biennial in 2003, portrays characters with no identity, struggling to maintain their Persian identity in contradiction with the imposed Islamic System

Amirhossein Zanajni depicts the ruins of once spectacular historical buildings, symbols of Iranian heritage, which has been subject to destruction by the imposition of strict Islamic rules.

Ahmad Morshedloo captures ordinary people in what seems to be an eternal "waiting" mode; given up, indifferent and bored; filled with ennui they are just "waiting."

“The timing is right to bring contemporary Iranian art to the attention of an international audience to demonstrate that despite the repression of women and art, Iranian artists of both genders have flourished.” said Homa Taraji.

Since 2007, the field of Iranian modern and contemporary art has grown exponentially on the international art market. Iranian artists have dominated auctions organized by leading auction houses such as Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Bonhams, selling at record highs. This has propelled Iranian artists to an international level and collecting their art is now a very attractive investment.

“I have been a gallery owner for 35 years. I try to promote young artists, like the Iranians I find so interesting now. I was lucky enough to sign five of them before they began getting a lot of attention in the media. There’s something exciting going on in the art world in Iran today,” says Austrian art dealer and gallery owner, Thaddaeus Ropac.

There are many other beautiful abstract and modern pieces in this exhibition, which reflect the texture of this rich culture and the existential challenges of life in Iran.

Bita Vakili

Fereydoon Omidi

Ghasem Mohammadi

Golnaz Fathi

Mohammad Eskandari

Mostafa Darehbaghi

Shahriar Ahmadi

About Echoes in Blue

Echoes in Blue is organized and curated by Homa Taraji, co-founder and Executive Director of The American Foundation for Contemporary Iranian Art (www.afcia.org), a non-profit organization for promotion of contemporary Iranian art in the U.S.

James Gray Gallery
Bergamot Station Art Center
2525 Michigan Avenue
Building D4 in Santa Monica, CA

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Following Shahnameh Narration in English language is by Neda-afarid (Saghi Aghili), and the story is the Great War Between Iran And Turan.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Afrasiyab, King of Turan, made ready his army… there were joined unto him the hosts of the Khakan of China, and of the Kamous of Kushan, men mighty in the battlefield. ..and from Ind and all the highlands of Asia there came forth troops unto the aid of Afrasiyab. Afrasiab rejoiced, thereat for he was assured that if Rustem came not forth unto the aid of iranians, and the men of Iran could not stand against my host.

When the two armies met, many and fierce were the combats waged between them, and blows were given and received, and swords flashed, and showers of arrows descended on all sides, the blood of brave men was shed like unto the shedding of rain from a black cloud.

Day by day were the Iranians weakened.

Ferdowsi and Shahnameh Characters

List of Shahnameh Characters

Dire was the wailing among the army of Iran at their sore defeat, and they turned them back discomfited.

And Kai Khosrau was angry when he beheld them, he withheld his countenance from the land.

Then he sent greeting unto Rustem, his Pehliva, for in him alone could he put his trust.

Piran, Afrasiab’s minister said: “ if Rustem be their leader, for him alone do I fear.”

But Kamous said: “There is none, not even a mad elephant, that is mine equal in the fight.”

Rustem made ready a host to go unto the succour of Iran .

When the men of Iran heard this, they set up a great shout, and their hearts seemed to come back into their bodies

Click here to view the embedded video.

English Shahnameh

Persian Shahnameh

Search Persian Shahnameh

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But Kashan is no longer my town
My hometown has been lost
With feverish effort, I have built myself a house
On the far side of the night

Sohrab Sepehri was born in Kashan – Iran. His poetry is full of humanity and concern for human values. He loved nature and refers to it frequently.

Well-versed in Buddhism, mysticism and Western traditions, he mingled the Western concepts with Eastern ones, thereby creating a kind of poetry unsurpassed in the history of Persian literature. The poetry of Sohrab Sepehri bears great resemblance to that of E.E. Cummings.

BY: Sohrab Sepehri

If you are coming to see me,
pray step gently, softly

Lest the thin shell of my loneliness
Should crack

BY: Sohrab Sepehri

Click here to view the embedded video.

Wherever I am, let me be!
The Sky is mine
The windows, the mind, the air, love, earth, are all mine

What does it matter
if mushrooms of nostalgia
grow from time to time?

BY: Sohrab Sepehri

I am a Moslem
My Mecca is a rose
My mosque is a spring, my prayer stone the light

Fields make my prayer rug
I make ablution with the heartbeat of the windows
Moonlight flows through my prayers, the spectrum too

My Kaaba lies by the water,
My Kaaba lies under the acacias.
My Kaaba travels like the breeze,

From one garden to the next,
From one town to another

BY: Sohrab Sepehri

نام شعر : با مرغ پنهان

حرف ها دارم
با تو اي مرغي كه مي خواني نهان از چشم
و زمان را با صدايت مي گشايي !
چه ترا دردي است
كز نهان خلوت خود مي زني آوا
و نشاط زندگي را از كف من مي ربايي؟

در كجا هستي نهان اي مرغ !
زير تور سبزه هاي تر
يا درون شاخه هاي شوق ؟
مي پري از روي چشم سبز يك مرداب
يا كه مي شويي كنار چشمه ادارك بال و پر ؟
هر كجا هستي ، بگو با من .
روي جاده نقش پايي نيست از دشمن.
آفتابي شو!
رعد ديگر پا نمي كوبد به بام ابر.
مار برق از لانه اش بيرون نمي آيد.
و نمي غلتد دگر زنجير طوفان بر تن صحرا.
روز خاموش است، آرام است.
از چه ديگر مي كني پروا؟

sohrabsepehri.com
en.wikipedia.org
fa.wikipedia.org

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Golha Radio Program, broadcast from 1956 through 1979, covered the entire history of classical as well as contemporary Persian poetry, giving marvelous expression to the whole gamut of traditional Persian music and poetry.

Digital archiving of all the Golha radio programs is being conducted for access by academic researchers of Persian music and literature and the public at large.

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The Golha Project has been supported by the British Library Endangered Archives Program, the Music Department of the School of Oriental and African Studies University of London (SOAS), The British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), the Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF) and the Parsa Foundation.

Golha Project Management by
Jane Lewisohn: jane@golha.co.uk
Aydin Azizzadeh: aydin@golha.co.uk

Following presentation is from Jadid OnLine on Golha Project  - Persian with English subtitle

Click here to view the embedded video.

The music and literary repertoire of the programs known generally as Golha, ‘Flowers [of Persian Poetry and Song]‘ was a series of weekly radio programs. The foremost and best musicians, vocalists, literary critics, poets and announcers performed on the programs, thus providing a unique – and still the best and most poetically diverse-recorded collection of the classical corpus of Persian music and poetry made in the 20th century.

Rahi Mo"ayyeri and Davud Pirnia at Maydan-i Arg Radio Studio Tehran

This project proposes to construct a digital archive of the series for access by academic researchers of Persian music and literature and the public at large. The first phase of the project, which was to compile and digitize a complete archive of all the Golha radio programs, was completed in 2008 by Jane Lewisohn under the auspices and support of the Endangered Archives Program of the British Library where a copy of the complete digital archive is currently kept in the National Sound Archive World Music Section there. Iran Heritage Foundation will be involved in the second phase of the project which aims to create a searchable, relational database of the entire archive including bio-bibliographical data on the performers and authors, musical notation for the songs, transcription of the poetry and the commentaries included in the programs. This database will be made available over the internet by means of a purpose-built website linked exclusively to the IHF website.

Adib Khwansari, Mortaza Mahjubi, and Marziya at Maydan-i Arg Radio Studio, Tehran.

The archive as a whole will be a unique cultural resource which can both be enjoyed by students and lovers of Persian culture and also used as a teaching tool for both Persian music and Persian Literature

Project Duration
3 Years – 30% of the work already completed and fully operational by September 2011

Golha References

Flowers of Persian Song and Music: Davud Pirnia and the Genesis of the Golha Programs (PDF by Jane Lewisohn)

SOAS The Gulha Programs CD cover and booklet (PDF)

Future site of Golha project database

Sample Music from Javad Maroufi

Radio Golha

jadidonline.com Golha Program

Golha Project CDs can be ordered from the SOAS Bookshop soon.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Iran’s entry to the 2010 Academy Awards, About Elly, on Feb. 20
Actress Gohar Kheirandish in person on Feb. 7
A new feature from director Bahman Gohbadi on Feb. 6
Director Shalizeh Arefpour in person on Feb. 5

All films from Iran and in Persian with English subtitles, unless otherwise noted.

Friday February 5th at 7:30PM

HEIRAN (2009)

When Iranian high school student Mahi falls for Heiran, a poor, gallant Afghani refugee, her horrified parents beg her not to ruin her life with the boy.  Love has its way until the warnings come true, and love struck Mahi finds herself entangled in an epic story of immigrant woe.  Documentarian Shailzeh Arefpour perfectly balances issues and emotions in this moving first feature.

35mm, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 86 min.

PROD: Rakshan Bani-Etemad.  DIR: Shalizeh Arefpour.  SCR: S. Arefpour, Naghmeh Samini.  CINE: Hossein Jafarian.  EDIT: Sepideh Abdolvahab.  CAST: Baran Kosari, Mehrdad Sedighian, Khosro Shakibaei, Farhad Aslani, Zhahleh Sameti.

IN PERSON:  director Shalizeh Arefpour.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Saturday February 6th at 7:30PM

NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS (2009)

Bahman Gohbadi (Turtles Can Fly, shown in our 2005 edition) offers a glimpse of can-do determination.  Faced with prohibitions against rock music, bandmates Negar and Ashkan plot to leave Iran for England to make music their way. Their deliberate progress toward this elusive goal takes them through the underground rock scene in a brisk, often comical look, at a side of Iranian life seldom seen on film.

35mm, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 101 min.

PROD/DIR: Bahman Gohbadi.  SCR: B. Gohbadi, Hossein M. Abkenar, Roxana Saberi.  CINE: Turaj Asiani.  EDIT: Hayedeh Safiyari.  CAST: Negar Shaghaghi, Askan Koshanejad, Hamed Behdad.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Sunday February 7th at 7:00PM

TRADITION OF KILLING LOVERS (2004)

Jailed for harvesting trees to support his family, Salar is replaced as breadwinner by his young son Jalal while Jalal’s sister strains to defend her husband, a policeman, from the fury of her mother (Gohar Kheirandish) after he is forced to transport his father-in-law to prison.  Director Khosro Masoumi undergirds his analysis of encroaching economic despair with emotional range and power.

35mm, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 90 min.

PROD: Mahmoud Fallah.  DIR/SCR: Khosro Masoumi.  CINE: Nader Masoumi.  EDIT: Hassan Hassandoust.  CAST: Hossein Abedini, Gohar Kheirandish, Hossein Mahjoub, Hurie Mirmohammadi, Arman Nikzad.

IN PERSON:  actress Gohar Kheirandish.

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Monday February 8th at 7:30PM

WIND BLOWS IN THE MEADOW (2008)

After her father is injured in an accident, Shouka is dismayed to find herself betrothed to the developmentally-disabled son of one of the family’s creditors.  Wooed by the assistant tailor hired to make her wedding dress, Shouka sees a possible escape, but danger looms in this delicately drawn drama.

35mm, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 91 min.

PROD: Fath’olah Jafari Jozani.  DIR/SCR: Khosro Masoumi.  CINE: Nader Masoumi.  EDIT: Hassan Hassandost.  CAST: Elnaz Shakerdoust, Hossein Abdedini, Reza Naji, Jamal Ejali, Maedah Tahmasbi.

Feature preceded by:

KNOT (2006)

A captivating courtship in the snow, depicting one couple’s path to love’comprising many years and footsteps.

DVCam, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 10 min.

DIR: Javat Vatani.  CINE: Farshad Gol Sefidi.  EDIT: Mohammad Rasoulof.  CAST: Habib Vatani, Golbootheh Badeleh.

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Friday February 12th at 7:30PM

444-DAY FACE-OFF (2008)

Director Mohammad Shirvani (7 Blind Women Filmmakers, shown in our 2009 edition) recounts the spectacular taking of the United States Embassy after the ouster of the Shah and the 444-day ‘hostage crisis’ that followed.  With tremendous access and skill, Shirvani cagily interviews actual participants, including U.S. embassy officials and Iranian students, to reconstruct key episodes and deconstruct contentious issues.

DVCam, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 70 min.

PROD/DIR/ED: Mohammad Shirvani.  CINE: Hooman Behmanesh, Kambiz Karimi, Mahmoud Reza Sani, M. Shirvani.

COUNTDOWN (2008)

Along with more than a million high-school graduates, Parisa studies for difficult and competitive college entrance examinations, thought by many to be a young woman’s best hope for a career in Iran.  The familial and spiritual strains of this ritual are well rendered by director Khatereh Hanachi, as Parisa and her family face numerous sacrifices to realize a dream.

DVCam, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 50 min.

PROD: Maziar Bahari.  DIR: Khatereh Hanachi.  CINE: Rita Ebrahimi.  EDIT: Hamid Najafi Rad.

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Sunday February 14th at 7:00PM

TINAR (2007)

A pastorale of great beauty and poignancy, director Mahdi Moniri’s lyrical documentary foregrounds a poor boy’s resilience and courage.  Young Tinar lives alone in the mountains of northern Iran.  Abandoned by his recently widowed and re-married father, he supports himself as a cow herder, surviving emotionally on long-held hopes of attending school or joining urban relatives who might care for him.

DVCam, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 77 min.

PROD/DIR: Mahdi Moniri.  CINE: Seyed Hassan, Seyedi Parishan.  EDIT: Mohammad Moeen Karimoddini.

A MAN WHO ATE HIS CHERRIES (2009)

Director Payman Haghani’s first feature concerns Reza, a factory worker who learns that he is infertile.  His frustrated wife Zari files successfully for divorce and Reza has to raise money to pay back her dowry.  Reduced to basics, Reza scrounges for the necessary cash until an industrial accident suddenly gives him an idea.

DVCam, color and b/w, in Persian with English subtitles, 78 min.

PROD: Amir Samavati.  DIR: Payman Haghani.  SCR: P. Haghani, Hamid-Reza Keshani.  CAST: Hassan Pourshirazi, Asha Mehrabi, Reza Afshar, Maryam Khodarahmi, Bagher Soroosh.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Friday February 19th at 7:30PM

MY LITTLE COUNTRY (2008)

The moving portrait of a school for Afghani refugee children in Iran that gives its students a place to feel safe and acknowledged, to study their shared past and dream of a return to their home country.

DVCam, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 26 min.

PROD: Saeed Rashtian.  DIR/SCR: Abbas Mohammadi.  CINE: Reza Jalali.  EDIT: Masoumeh Shah Nazari.

THE LEGEND OF GORDAFARID (2008)

One woman’s saga studying and performing a style of epic theater previously reserved only for men.  Her fierce determination leads to some pushback, but more often wins admiration and respect.

DVCam, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 34 min.

PROD/DIR/SCR: Hadi Afarideh.  CINE: Ashkan Ashkani.  EDIT: Hamid Najafi Rad.

FINAL FITTING (2008)

A witty, personal portrait of a man who creates beautiful vestments for Iranian clerics, this entertaining short reveals the circumstances that sometimes accompany the pomp.

DVCam, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 30 min.

PROD/DIR/SCR: Reza Haeri.  CINE: Ehsan Kaffash.  EDIT: Fardin Saheb-Zamani.

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Saturday February 20th at 7:30PM

ABOUT ELLY (2009)

Asghar Farhadi (Beautiful City, shown in our 2005 edition) returns with this captivating drama, Iran’s entry to the
2010 Academy Awards. When schoolteacher Elly is whisked away by friends on a pleasure trip to the Caspian Sea, their true agenda is revealed: to marry her off to the recently divorced Ahmad.  The fib is the first of many in what soon becomes a mystery when Elly suddenly disappears.

35mm, color, in Persian with English subtitles, 119 min.

PROD/DIR/SCR: Asghar Farhadi.  CINE: Hossein Jafarian.  EDIT: Hayedeh Safarian.  CAST: Taraneh Alidousti, Golshifteh Farahani, Mani Haghighi, Shahab Hosseini, Merila Zarei.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Theater:
The Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood Village
10899 Wilshire Blvd. (corner of Wilshire & Westwood Blvds.).

Tickets:
Advance tickets for other programs at the Billy Wilder Theater are available for $10 at https://secure.cinema.ucla.edu/onlineboxoffice/

Tickets are also available at the Billy Wilder Theater box office starting one hour before showtime: $9, general admission; $8, students, seniors and UCLA Alumni Association members with ID.

PARKING:
After 6 p.m., $3 in the lot under the Billy Wilder Theater. Enter from Westwood Blvd., just north of Wilshire.  Before 6 p.m., $3 for the first three hours with Museum validation.

INFO:
www.cinema.ucla.edu / 310.206.FILM

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There was a time, following the military coup of 1920 when women were forced not to wear Hijab. Here are a few photographs from the first half of the twentieth century, the rise of industrial era in Iran.

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You may find many more photos from that era in Portrait Photographs From Isfahan.

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First Place: $5,000
Second Place: $3,000
Third Place: $2,000

Applications must be post-marked by May 1, 2010

At the Unique Zan Foundation our mission is to promote health, literacy and peace for women in and from the Middle East. As part of that effort, and in collaboration with the Iranian-American Scholarship Fund (www.iasfund.org), we are pleased to announce our third annual essay competition for Iranian women graduate and undergraduate students at major universities and accredited educational institutes in the United States.

Applicants must be enrolled as students at the time of submission and at the time awards are announced. Awards will be made through the university where the student is enrolled. Students who are transitioning from undergraduate to graduate education are eligible. Non-students are not eligible to apply.

This year’s essay theme is: “Unique Iranian Women in History: Drawing Inspiration from the Past.”

Applicants’ essays should focus on any unique and inspiring Iranian woman in history and how her life, and overcoming the challenges of her time, is relevant to today. The essay should address: the woman’s life and work, the social environment in which she was raised, what was ground-breaking about her work, how she overcame obstacles to forge new pathways relevant not only to women but also to others in her field, how she provides inspiration to women today, and how she also provides inspiration to the author, herself.

The “unique woman in Iranian history” can be a writer, poet, musician/singer, physician, scientist, scholar, politician, artist, activist, or any other profession of the author’s choosing, but she must be a prominent figure in her field. The author must also demonstrate detailed knowledge of her subjects’ work; for example, if choosing a poet include her poetry in the essay and discuss its relevance to both then and now. The “unique woman in Iranian history” must be someone who is not currently living, so Forough Farokhzad is fine but Shirin Ebadi is not.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Essay Format:
Essays should be between 5000 and 6000 words (approximately 16-18 pages, double spaced, 12 point “Times New Roman” font, with 1.5 inch margins), and be stapled in the upper left-hand corner. Report binders should not be used. Only the title page and first page of the essay should contain the author’s name. All other pages must be numbered in the lower right hand corner and contain first and last initial only in the upper right header.

While higher grade point average will be considered a bonus, the main emphasis is on applicants who exhibit exceptional writing skills and a compelling story. A copy of recent transcripts should be included with your essay. Essays should not have been previously published in any other publication or on the internet, but must be of publishable quality. Unique Zan Foundation will retain first rights of refusal for publication, but publication is not guaranteed. All submissions become the property of Unique Zan Foundation.

These essays will be reviewed by a qualified panel of academic experts. Awards will be given by The Unique Zan Foundation through the Iranian-American Scholarship Fund in the following amounts:

First Place: $5,000
Second Place: $3,000
Third Place: $2,000

All applications must include:

1.    Four hard copies of your essay in proper format,
2.    A brief cover-letter with name, contact information (including email and telephone), university attending, and explaining course of study and why applying for this award,
3.    One letter of recommendation from professor,
4.    One copy of recent college transcripts.
5.    One copy of essay and cover-letter sent by email to info@uniquezanfoundation.org.

Applications must be post-marked by May 1, 2010 and sent to the
following address:

Unique Zan Foundation
PO Box 1257
Menlo Park, CA 94026

http://www.uniquezanfoundation.org

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2. UCLA Film & Television Archive: 20th Annual Celebration of Iranian Cinema

Sunday, February 28, 2010 – Washington, DC
Sunday, February 13, 2010 – Berkeley, CA

This edition of Masters of Persian Music features two of the most important figures in Persian classical music touring with the next generation of musical masters! Kayhan Kalhor on kamancheh and Hossein Alizadeh on tar are joined by remarkable young vocalist Hamid Reza Nourbakhsh.

Funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by National Endowment for the Arts

Alizadeh is considered an inspiration to an entire generation of Iran’s musical culture. Trained in composition, performance and musicology at the Universities of Tehran and Berlin, he also studied with the ostads (maestros) of Persian music including Ali Akbar Khan Shahnazi, Nur Ali Borumand, Abdollah Davami, Mahmood Karimi and Houshang Zarif.

Kayhan Kalhor and Hossein Alizadeh

Alizadeh has been both conductor and soloist with the Iranian National Radio and Television Orchestra. He founded the Aref Ensemble and performed with the Shayda Ensemble, both dedicated to the promotion and advancement of Iranian classical music. Alizadeh has recorded the entire body of the radif (a core set of works made up of about 200 short modal pieces called gushehs) based on the
interpretation of Mirza Abdollah (1843-1918), a noted court musician and master of both the Persian setar (a four-stringed plucked lute) and the tar.

Alizadeh has himself composed many works of contemporary and neo-classical Iranian music including “Hessar,” “Ney Nava” and “Song of Compassion” and film scores including Gabbeh, A Time for Drunken Horses and, most recently, Turtles Can Fly. Alizadeh has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and has appeared on many radio and television programs around the
world. He has taught at the University of Tehran, the Tehran Music Conservatory and the California Institute of the Arts.

Kayhan Kalhor is an internationally acclaimed kamancheh (spike-fiddle) virtuoso and has played a leading role in popularizing Persian music in the West. A member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project, his compositions appear on all three of the ensemble’s albums and three of his recent recordings have been nominated for Grammys. Said the New York Times last season, “When Mr. Kalhor performed, it
sounded like a conversation among several instruments, with the varying timbres at times evoking the wailing pleas of disconsolate lovers. From a simple, muted beginning, the music became more intense and embellished, as ornate melodies and ornaments unfolded with calligraphic detail above ostinato bass patterns.”

Kalhor began his musical studies at the age seven and at 13 was invited to work with the National Orchestra of Radio and Television of Iran, where he performed for five years. At 17 he began working with the Shayda Ensemble of the Chavosh Cultural Center, the most prestigious arts organization in Iran at the time.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kalhor has traveled extensively throughout Iran, studying the music of its many regions, especially of Khorason and Kordestan. He has soloed with a number of leading ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de Lyon, and is co-founder of the renowned ensembles Dastan, Ghazal: Persian & Indian Improvisations and Masters of Persian Music.

Kalhor has composed works for Iran’s most renowned vocalists Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Shahram Nazeri and has performed and recorded with Iran’s greatest instrumentalists. Kayhan has also composed music for television and film and was most recently featured on the soundtrack of Francis Ford Coppola’s Youth Without Youth in a score on which he collaborated with Osvaldo Golijov. Last season, composer John Adams invited Kalhor to perform a solo recital at Carnegie Hall as part of his Perspectives Series and in the same year Kalhor appeared on a double bill at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival.

The Masters of Persian Music ensemble also includes vocalist Hamid Reza Nourbakhsh, a leading disciple of Mohammad Reza Shajarian. Accompanists are M.R. Ebrahimi (barbat or oud, plucked lute) Alireza Hosseini (tombak, single-headed goblet-shaped drum), Rouzbeh Rahimi, (santur, a hammered dulcimer) and Siamak Jahangiry (ney, flute).

Kennedy Center Tickets:
Sunday, February 28, 2010 – Washington, DC

Washington Performing Arts Society

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall Tickets:
Sunday, February 13, 2010 – Berkeley, CA

Cal Performance

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Kaveh is the most famous of Persian mythological characters in resistance against despotic foreign rule in Iran. After losing 18 of his sons to Zahhak’s serpents, he rebels against the foreign ruler of Persia and leads the people to overthrow the tyrant king.

Graphic Novel by Ramin Abhari ramin465@gmail.com

As a symbol of resistance and unity, he raises his leather apron on a spear, known as the Derafsh Kaviani. This flag is later decorated with precious jewels and becomes the symbol of Persian independence, resistance and resilience, as well as the revolutionary symbol of the masses in their fight against foreign invaders.

Graphic Novel by Ramin Abhari ramin465@gmail.com

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Smithsonian Institution – Thru Jan. 24, 2010
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Whether by consulting the position of the planets, casting horoscopes, or interpreting dreams, the art of divination was widely practiced throughout the Islamic world. The most splendid tools ever devised to foretell the future were illustrated texts known as the Falnama (Book of omens). Notable for their monumental size, brilliantly painted compositions, and unusual subject matter, the manuscripts, created in Safavid Iran and Ottoman Turkey in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, are the center piece of Falnama: The Book of Omens.

The first exhibition devoted to these extraordinary manuscripts, Falnama: The Book of Omens sheds new light on their artistic, cultural, and religious significance. The exhibition comprises more than sixty works of art from international public and private collections and is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

Khaybar: The Conquering Palm of Ali - 1580s

Falnama: The Book of Omens is organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The exhibition has received generous support from anonymous donors, the Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, the Hagop Kevorkian Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Farhad Ebrahimi, Smithsonian Scholarly Studies Program, The Barakat Trust, The Packard Humanities Institute, and PARSA Community Foundation.

Adam and Eve Expelled from Paradise - 1550s

Beast of the earth - 1580s

The Angel of Death Descends on Shaddad ibn Ad - 1550s

Sun - 1580s

Location
The Sackler Gallery is located at 1050 Independence Avenue, Washington, D.C, SW.
The Freer Gallery of Art is located at Jefferson Drive at 12th Street, SW.
The two museums are connected by an underground exhibition space.
Map & Directions to the Freer & Sackler Galleries

Hours and Admission
Hours are from 10 AM to 5:30 PM every day except Dec. 25, and admission is free.

http://www.asia.si.edu/

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