Iran launched a satellite but failed to place it into orbit in a blow to its space programme. The attempted launch of the Zafar comes before 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and vital parliamentary elections in Iran on February 21.
A total of 220 films from 74 countries were shown during the nine-day long Asian Competition section of the 18th Dhaka International Film Festival (DIFF) which began on 11th of this month. The theme of this year’s festival was ‘better film, better audience, better society.’ The Iranian film ‘Castle of Dreams’ directed by Reza Mirakarimi won the Best Film Award. The film also won the Best Director Award.
Indian film ‘Finally Love’ directed by Anjan Dutt has won the Best Audience Award in Cinema of the World Category while ‘Children of the Sun’ directed by Sri Lankan director Prasanna Vithanage has won the Special Jury Award in the 18th Dhaka International Film Festival. In Bangladesh Panorama Section, ‘No Dorai’ directed by Taneem Rahman Angshu bagged the Best Film Award.
Best Actress Award went to Arezoo Ariapoor, Ferestha Afshar and Hasiba Ebrahimi for their acting in Afghanistan-Iran-France joint venture film ‘Hava, Maryamk, Ayesha’ while the Best Actor Award went to Lousie Abuel for his acting in the film ‘Edward’. Information Minister of Bangladesh Hasan Mahmud gave away the award carrying prize money of Tk 1 lakh, a citation and crest in the closing ceremony held in Dhaka.
In continuation of the cultural exchange programme between India and Iran, Sahitya Akademi in collaboration with Embassy of Iran organized an Indo-Iranian Writers’ Meet in New Delhi. The objective of the meet is to further deepen cultural ties between the two nations and heighten literary awareness among the readers at both sides.
The meet was also aimed at providing a platform for meaningful-dialogue between writers of both countries. Culture Counsellor of Iran Mohammad Ali Rabbani, Secretary Sahitya Akademi K Sreenivasarao and eminent writer and scholar Nasera Sharma were present in the meet. The events also witnessed a panel discussion on Indo-Iranian Cultural Bonds.
Iran’s top commander General Qassim Soleimani has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad. Soleimani, who led a special forces unit of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, has been a key figure of Iranian and the Middle East politics.
His death exacerbated already-high tensions between Iran and the United States and triggered concerns of retaliation from Iranian forces. After the news of Soleimani’s death, oil prices jumped more than 4% and fuelling fears of a conflict in the crude-rich region.