Canadian film festival nominates Iranian director
80% of Spain’s cinemas open doors to public
Iranian director Saba Qassemi was nominated for the Best Director Award at the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TINFF) slated for September 1819, in Canada.
Her short film, ‘Castle,’ will participate at the 2020 edition of the TINFF, according to ifilmtv.com reported.
“Some of the castles are built from bricks, some from books. But what makes them stand are the memories…” a brief synopsis for the short film reads.
Written by Qassemi, the short film stars Sajjad Tabesh, Sima Shibani, Mahdokht Molaee, Emad Emami, Armin Sayyad, Ali Nassir, Arman Partovi, Ali Alikhani, Fatemeh Alikhani, Asghar Bayat, and Siavash Shibani.
The TINFF aims to bring films and music to the Canadian city of Toronto. The main focus of the festival is to keep diversity and celebrate innovation and uniqueness.
Classes for Persian traditional music which are being held online due to the coronavirus pandemic received kudos internationally, an Iranian music teacher said on Sunday.
The coronavirus outbreak created an opportunity for virtual workshops, Vala Vatankhah told IRNA.
With the outbreak of the coronavirus and the closure of universities, many cultural activities, including music training, are being held virtually, and the holding of the third Persian Singing Workshop at
Tarbiat Modares University was no exception, he said.
Vatankhah, Persian music instructor, believes that online classes created the chance for foreigners to get familiarized with Persian art.
He said that participants in Persian traditional music workshops are from different cities of Iran as well as Germany, France, the US, the UK, Canada, Sweden and Tajikistan.
“At a time when our country’s art and culture are exposed to a wide range of foreign and quasi-artistic styles that intend to diminish the original Iranian culture, I feel duty-bound to teach the glorious artworks of Iran,” he said.
Vatankhah described Persian music as a weapon for countering cultural invasion.
Over 80 percent of Spain’s movie theaters opened after three months of closure due to the coronavirus lockdown, according to the Federation of Cinemas of Spain (FECE).
The gradual opening of cinemas actually began on May 25 but, as of June 28, about 80 percent of cinemas throughout Spain opened to the public again, albeit with more restrictions, euroweeklynews. com reported.
Cinemas, however, must adhere to stringent security and hygiene protocols drawn up by FECE, which includes measures such as promoting the online purchase of tickets, paying by card at the box office (without pin), as well as informative posters about sanitary measures and the physical distance that need to be respected on the premises.
Disinfectant dispensers should also be available at various points of the facilities for spectators and workers. Cinemas must now also increase the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting their facilities, with special attention to contact surfaces and bathrooms.
Distances between customers must be maintained, from arrival at the box office until leaving the screening room, through measures such as indicators on the ground, reduced capacity, and staggered screenings.