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Rumi
Film
A bitter bite
A critique of Samira Makhmalbaf's "The Apple"
By Ali Akbar Mahdi
August 4, 1999
The Iranian
I credit the young Samira Makhmalbaf and her honorable intentions but
I have a problem with how she defines her film and recruits her cast. She
claims that "The Apple" is neither a documentary nor a full-fledged
drama. She melds the two formats and would like to have it both ways...
The lines between reality and fiction become so blurred in the director's
mind that she overlooks the ethical aspects of her work. Surely, there
is a long tradition of documentary films where the line between objective
reality and subjective interpretation or even outright fiction is constantly
blurred. However, the problem here is not just the mixing of fact and fiction,
but also how the director approaches her subjects ... GO
TO FEATURE
Outlook
Hardline court shuts Salam daily
By Jonathan Lyons
TEHRAN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Iran's hardline clerical court has banned
the country's leading pro-reform newspaper for five years and barred its
publisher from press activities, the official IRNA news agency said on
Wednesday.
It said the court ordered a ban on the daily Salam for printing secret
documents, while publisher and managing editor Mohammad Mousavi-Khoeiniha,
a powerful leftist cleric, was suspended from journalism for three years
... FULL
TEXT
Another revolutionary achievement
1999 Darwan Award Nominee
An Iranian hunter was shot to death near Tehran by a snake that coiled
around his shotgun as he pinned the reptile to the ground ... DARWIN
AWARDS
Thanks to Laleh Khalili
More Letters
* Acceptance
Niloufar R. writes: I was so
moved when I read the piece by Shima Jalalipour ["After
all, I am Iranian"]. I admire her closeness to her culture and
I congratulate her parents for raising such a fine Iranian. However, it
saddens me that I cannot say the same about myself.
I am half Iranian half Arab, a mixture some people say is doomed from
the start, culturaly speaking. I have only lived in Iran for the first
two years of my life. After the revolution I moved with my mother, my Arab
side, to live in the Arab world, while my father, the Iranian, moved to
the United States ...
I have been reading as much as I can about Iran. I have been taking
Persian (language) classes. I have been trying to make Iranian friends,
as difficult as that is, with my broken Persian and Arabic name.
At the same time, I am proud of where I am now, considering that I started
from scratch. I am 21 years old now and a junior in college. My short-term
goal is to be fluent in Persian by the time I graduate. My long term goal?
Acceptance ... FULL
TEXT
* It was us
Salmar writes: I am writing
in response to the letter "Shah
and Farah are to blame". Mr. Rafat, I have a couple of questions
for you. 1. When did you leave Iran? 2. How old were you?
It is extremely unfortunate that you, like so many others, find it very
easy to blame OUR king and queen for Iran's current pathetic social, economical,
and political climate. We brought the revolution unto ourselves.
It is very easy to blame the United States but ultimately it was Iranians
marching in the streets looting the palace like a bunch of nadeed padeeds;
it wasn't the Americans. It was Iranians who believed a gross man, who
didn't even speak the Persian language properly, was going to save them.
How wrong those people were.
* Literature: Bookreading in New York
Join authors of "A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays
by Iranian-Americans" (George Braziller, 1999) for a special New York
reading and book-signing at Barnes and Noble Union Square. Persis Karim
(co-editor and author) will read with Zara Houshmand and New York authors
Laleh Khalili, Nahid Rachlin, Roxanne Varzi and Nika Khanjani on Wednesday,
August 18th at 7:30 pm. Barnes and Noble, Union Square.
Books of the Week
* Zemzemeh-haaye
azali: Avesta va ketaab-e moqadas
Zoroastrian texts
By Ali Salehi
* Veys
va Ramin
A love story written in verse 1000 years ago
By Fakhreddin Asa'd-e Gorgani
* Doshmanaan-e
jaameh-ye saalem
On the civil society
By satirist Ebrahim Nabavi
* Sotun-e
panjom
The Fifth Column
By satirist Ebrahim Nabavi
See more Iranian
books for sale
THE IRANIAN
Bookstore
Video of the Week
Where's
the Friend's Home
(Khaaneh-ye dust kojaast)
Abbas Kiarostami's lyrical tale about a traveler searching for his friend's
home who finds himself on an excursion through places and moments of great
beauty and wonder. Farsi with English subtitles.
THE IRANIAN
Video Store
Copyright © Abadan Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
May not be duplicated or distributed in any form
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More
news
Iran set to dilute clerical control of
polls
TERHAN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Iran's parliament on Wednesday approved
the outline of a bill to dilute the power of conservative clerics to eliminate
reformist candidates in next year's legislative elections. Entrenched conservatives
have used such powers to block influential reformist rivals from running
in past elections and improve their own numbers in parliament ... FULL TEXT
Mystery murders' out to embarrass Iran
-judiciary
TEHRAN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - A series of murders of dissidents in
Iran late last year were the work of a small group in the intelligence ministry
which sought to destabilise the Islamic republic and embarrass it in the
eyes of the world, judiciary officials said on Wednesday. In a statement
on months of investigation into the mystery killings of at least four dissidents,
the armed forces judicial organisation said the plot was limited to a handful
of agents inside the intelligence ministry, including a deputy minister,
operating without official sanction or authorisation ... FULL TEXT
Senators condemn Iranian crackdown
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Several senators sought today to register congressional
displeasure with Iran's crackdown on student protesters and democracy advocates.
``This is an untenable situation and should be loudly and categorically
condemned by all free nations of the world,'' said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan
... FULL TEXT
U.S.-funded radio denies detained Iranian
journalist worked for it
DUBAI,
United Arab Emirates (AP) - A U.S.-funded radio network denied Tuesday that
an Iranian woman arrested in Tehran was employed by the station. Iran 's
hard-line Kayhan newspaper reported Tuesday that the detained woman, Camellia
Entekhabifard, had worked for Radio Free Europe, a radio station that Iran
considers hostile to its establishment ... FULL TEXT
Basij forces hold first day of manoeuvres
TEHRAN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Iran's Basij volunteer paramilitary forces
-- who played a key role in suppressing social unrest last month -- started
three days of manoeuvres in eastern Tehran on Wednesday, state media reported.
It said up to 50,000 members of the ideologically motivated Islamic Basij
militia, who are organised and trained by elite army Revolutionary Guards,
are expected to take part ... FULL TEXT
Iran urges UN intervention to stop Afghan
war
TEHRAN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Iran has called on the United Nations
to intervene to end the civil war in Afghanistan, state television said
on Wednesday ... FULL TEXT
BP Amoco chemicals won't invest in Iran
under sanctions
August
4, 1999, LONDON (Dow Jones)--BP Amoco PLC (BPA) won't invest in Iran 's
petrochemicals industry until the British and U.S. governments reach agreement
on sanctions, which limit non-U.S. companies from investing in Iran , Bryan
K. Sanderson, chief executive officer of BP Amoco Chemicals, told Dow Jones
Newswires Wednesday ... FULL TEXT
Iran seeks in foreign capital to lift steel
TEHRAN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Iran is seeking $3.7 billion in foreign
investment to develop its steel industry, hoping to double annual production
capacity from its current seven million tonnes in five years, an industry
official said on Wednesday. The head of Iran's National Steel Company (INSC),
Mostafa Moazenzadeh, said his firm had put up for international tender 26
projects to expand and modernise steel and related industries ... FULL TEXT
State TV band ads for "feminist"
film
Tehran,
(Neshat) - The conservative- controlled state television has banned ads
for a critically-acclaimed "feminist" film -- "Do zan"
(Twp women) - by Tahmineh Milani, which is currently playing in Iranian
theaters ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Who's right, who's wrong?
Tehran, (Neshat) - Television commentators claim the theater industry
is in decline. Others disagree. A report ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
New national team: Azizi out
Tehran,
(Iran daily) - Mansour Pour-Heydari has selected 27 players to be on the
national soccer team. Khodadad Azizi is one of the notable names missing
... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Wrestlers going to Poland
Tehran,
(Iran daily) - Qualifying matches have determined who will be on the national
wrestling team which will soon take part in an upcoming international event
in Poland ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
BBC
Persian Service
For the latest news,
interviews and features on Iranian current affairs ... LISTEN HERE
$ Rate
Updated August 4
Buying: 880-908 tomans per dollar
Selling: 915 tomans per dollar
Source: Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) Tel: 602-595-0777
Mention this code for a better rate:
FA 37 B
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Quote Unquote
Acceptance
My short-term goal is to be fluent in Persian by the time I graduate.
My long term goal? Acceptance...
-- Niloufar R., an Iranian Arab
Letter
to The Iranian
August 4, 1999
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