TEHRAN, Sept. 5--The animation on the famous mathematician Archimedes produced by national TV–s Children and Young Adults Department of Channel One received wide acclamation at the Japanese Asian Assembly, reported ISNA.
At the event, which was recently held in Hong Kong with the participation of Japanese national broadcaster NHK and Hong Kong–s PTHK as well as Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), 25 producers from 25 Asian countries presented educational TV programs.
The animation “Archimedes– received high acclaim in one of the assembly–s sessions.
The ten-minute animation, which was produced by Mahin Javaherian, is part of an educational serial which deals with discoveries and inventions in a satirical manner.
The serial uses images to encourage young adults to participate in scientific programs.
Javaherian, an animator, produced and directed the animation while Faez Alidousti assisted her in all the stages.
Those involved in the production of the “Archimedes– also plan to produce other animations on the lives and discoveries of a number of great scientists including Thomas Alva Edison and Avicenna.

Ahmad Nadalian

TEHRAN, Sept. 5--Mayor of the French city of Ramatueil has awarded the art medal of the city to an Iranian sculptor, Ahmad Nadalian.
According to the Persian daily Aftab, Nadalian created a piece of sculpture which was installed in the coastal area of the city.
Nadalian was invited by the Art Hotel of France and IP Plaza Hotel of Ramatueil on the coast of Saint Trope, southern France to build statues called “Hidden Treasure– and stone works called “Fairy Cliffs–.
The sculptor told the daily that he carved several fish on a piece of stone and buried it at the hilltop under protection in presence of the mayor and other officials of the city. It was a symbolic move to express concern about the burial of living animals in a blanket of air pollution, global warming as well as the wars and crises facing the human community.
City officials asked Nadalian to create similar work on the old cliff of the city called the “Fairy Cliffs– which has been known by the same name for several centuries.
—I carved several images of fairies on the cliffs in line with Iranian culture,š he said.
Commenting on the theme of his works in France, he said, —I wanted to echo a notion that human being can do miracles by employing arts just like the magic creatures of the centuries gone by.š

TEHRAN, Sept. 5--An Iranian student has submitted a plan to establish an office for peace at Bayreuth International Music Festival in Germany.
The student, Pouyan Azadeh told IRNA that he put forward the plan to the director of the festival to help foster friendship and understanding between nations and the international community.
Azadeh, who was in Germany at the invitation of the festival–s organizers, said that two other proposals were also made by his group to the festival. One was to introduce folk music from different countries and the other was to set up a choral group at the festival to perform national songs, he added.
—The proposals were well received by the festival–s director and he wrote letters to me and the Center for Dialogue Among Civilizations seeking cooperation in these proposals,š he said.
Azadeh, who is studying MA in music, said that he performed two concerts in the festival--one a Sonnet by Ludwig von Beethoven and two Persian songs along with a composition from Javad Maroufi called “Gila Fantasy–.

TEHRAN, Sept. 5--The jury of the Children–s Photo Festival has completed the selection process for the event by choosing 116 works for three age groups: children, young adults and adults. The festival will begin on October 8 which marks International Children–s– Day.
The Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and the Young Adults (IIDCYA) said in a press release that the selection was made from 3,382 photos submitted to the festival–s secretariat so far.
The panel of jury for the festival includes Yahya Dehqan-pour, Ahmad Nateqi, Mohammad Mehdi Rahimian, Farhad Fakhrian and Shahriar Tavakoli.
The festival–s secretary, Esmail Abbasi said that the number of photos forwarded to the secretariat for the festival increased by 22 percent compared with the figure for last year.
Abbasi said that the quality of photos taken by children is better than those of the adults. —Working with children and training them can have a good impact on improving the standards of photography,š he said.
—Children have formed sensual relationship with photography and are curious to recognize their surroundings. We should encourage them to take up photography,š Abbasi said.
Elaborating on training children in photography, he said that the training should not exclude technical and aesthetic aspects and the attitude of the children should also be taken into account.
The festival will award three winners for each age group at a ceremony on October 8.

TEHRAN, Sept. 5--Member of parliament from Tehran has said that holding exhibits of Iranian cultural heritage exhibits in the western countries and ceding historical monuments to the private sector and providing the holders of the antique items with ownership deeds are against national interest.
Saeed Abu Taleb told the Persian-language daily Seday-e Edalat (voice of justice) that the cabinet authorized Iran–s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) to cede cultural monuments to the private sector in the form of “lease or sell–. This is not a positive way of dealing with historical heritage and the Administrative Court would prevent this decision from being implemented, the MP said. He added that the religious leaders will also oppose the move.
Abu Taleb contended that exploration of historical sites by foreign archeologists is also unacceptable. —Allowing foreign archeologists to engage in exploration of cultural sites may be misused by international smugglers to gain access to maps of historical monuments and plunder them at an opportune moment,š he said.
The lawmaker also criticized the ICHTO–s new administration for what he described as its “ambitious and impractical plans– for tourism.
—They announced that they have planned to attract 20 million tourists every year and that they should invest $20 billion annually to materialize the goal. It means that we should spend $400 billion in the next 20 years for tourism. It is ambitious and impractical,š he added.
Abu Taleb said that the MPs will take up their concerns about ICHTO plans with the president.

TEHRAN, Sept. 5--Sureh Mehr Publishing House has published a book titled “Carriage of Discourse– compiled by Asadollah Baqaei-Naeini.
The Public Relations Department of Sureh Mehr said in a press release that the book contains four chapters. The author of the book believes that poetry is not well received in Iran, therefore the book “Carriage of Discourse– aims to help safeguard literary works by presenting sections of ancient and contemporary works.
The first chapter of the book deals with poetry literature, terms and idioms and their relation to poetry, kinds of poetry styles and influence of Arabic poetry and language on works in Persian, while the second chapter focuses on some selected poems by 110 ancient poets including Roudaki, Nasser Khosrow Qobadiani, Omar Khayyam, Sheikh Sa–di, Hafez etc.
The fourth chapter focuses on the well-known prosaic texts including “Beihaqi Histroy–, “Tabari History–, “Golestan-e Sa–di–, “Qabousnameh– and “Sistan History–.
The 742-page book is published in 2,200 copies and is priced 50,000 rials.

TEHRAN, Sept. 5--An Internet contest called “Phoenix of Blessing– will be held to evaluate the knowledge of children and young adults about the sayings of Imam Ali (AS), the first Imam of the infallible household of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
According to the Public Relations Department of the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA), the competition will test the knowledge of children about some 20 invaluable sayings by Imam Ali (AS) in the form of multiple-choice questions.
Those interested in the contest can visit the website and answer the questions in 30 minutes by clicking on “Phoenix of Blessing–.
Participants have until November 15 to submit their answers. The names of winners will be announced at IIDCYA website www. kanoonparvaresh.com

Al Pacino

VENICE, Italy,
Sept. 5--Al Pacino, who has already made purists squirm with his American accent in one Shakespearean role, has taken another risk, playing Jewish moneylender Shylock in the new film version of 'The Merchant of Venice', said Reuters.
"It's a challenge when you have to do something well-known and have to approach it as if it's being said for the first time," Pacino said in a press conference at the Venice Film Festival, where the movie is staging its world premiere on Saturday.
His portrayal of the usurer, at times fiery or subdued, who demands a pound of flesh as security for a loan, may startle those who know Pacino best as a gangster or gruff cop.
The Italian-American's presence alongside leading British actors including Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes is just one of the surprises in the new film version of one of Shakespeare's most troublesome plays, modern renditions of which have all struggled to deal with its sometimes harsh anti-Semitism.
Pacino, 64, has previously directed and starred in 'Looking for Richard', a film about Shakespeare's Richard III, and played a Jewish lead in "People I Know."
"It would be hard to play a character you don't like or find in the character something to like about," said Pacino, his jet-black goatee in stark contrast to his grey-bearded, sad-eyed Shylock in the film.
"We together tried to figure out the back-life of Shylock and what led him to this state."