1.
Shiraz
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Shiraz is the sixth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province. At the 2011 census, the population of the city was 1,700,665, Shiraz is located in the southwest of Iran on the Roodkhaneye Khoshk seasonal river. It has a climate and has been a regional trade center for over a thousand years. Shiraz is one of the oldest cities of ancient Persia, the earliest reference to the city, as Tiraziš, is on Elamite clay tablets dated to 2000 BC. In the 13th century, Shiraz became a center of the arts and letters, due to the encouragement of its ruler. It was the capital of Persia during the Zand dynasty from 1750 until 1800, two famous poets of Iran, Hafez and Saadi, are from Shiraz, whose tombs are on the north side of the current city boundaries. Shiraz is known as the city of poets, literature, wine and it is also considered by many Iranians to be the city of gardens, due to the many gardens and fruit trees that can be seen in the city, for example Eram Garden. Shiraz has had major Jewish and Christian communities, the crafts of Shiraz consist of inlaid mosaic work of triangular design, silver-ware, pile carpet-weaving and weaving of kilim, called gilim and jajim in the villages and among the tribes. In Shiraz industries such as cement production, sugar, fertilizers, textile products, wood products, metalwork, Shirāz also has a major oil refinery and is also a major center for Irans electronic industries, 53% of Irans electronic investment has been centered in Shiraz. Shiraz is home to Irans first solar power plant, recently the citys first wind turbine has been installed above Babakoohi mountain near the city. The earliest reference to the city is on Elamite clay tablets dated to 2000 BCE, found in June 1970, the tablets written in ancient Elamite name a city called Tiraziš. Phonetically, this is interpreted as /tiračis/ or /ćiračis/ and this name became Old Persian /širājiš/, through regular sound change comes the modern Persian name Shirāz. The name Shiraz also appears on clay sealings found at a 2nd-century CE Sassanid ruin, by some of the native writers, the name Shiraz has derived from a son of Tahmuras, the third Shāh of the world according to Ferdowsis Shāhnāma. Shiraz is most likely more than 4,000 years old, the name Shiraz is mentioned in cuneiform inscriptions from around 2000 BC found in southwestern corner of the city. According to some Iranian mythological traditions, it was erected by Tahmuras Diveband. The oldest sample of wine in the world, dating to approximately 7,000 years ago, was discovered on clay jars recovered outside of Shiraz, in the Achaemenian era, Shiraz was on the way from Susa to Persepolis and Pasargadae. In Ferdowsis Shāhnāma it has said that Artabanus V, the Parthian Emperor of Iran. Ghasre Abu-Nasr which is originally from Parthian era is situated in this area, during the Sassanid era, Shiraz was in between the way which was connecting Bishapur and Gur to Istakhr
2.
Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
3.
University of Tehran
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The University of Tehran, also known as Tehran University and UT, is Irans oldest modern university. It is also Irans most prestigious university and it is almost always ranked as the best university in Iran in national and international rankings. It is also the premier knowledge producing institute among all OIC countries, the university offers 111 bachelors degree programs,177 masters degree programs, and 156 Ph. D. programs. Many of the departments were absorbed into the University of Tehran from the Dar al-Funun established in 1851, the main campus of the University is located in the central part of the city. The main gate of the University with its design and modern architecture is the logo of the University and in a more general sense. The University is one of the attractions, hosting many international and cultural events attracting academia. The major festive of Friday Prayers of the capital is held at the University’s main campus every Friday, Tehran University consistently makes the number one choice of qualifying applicants among all other universities of Iran. Sadiq considered the letter an invitation to outline a comprehensive scheme for the establishment of a University, in January 1933, during the cabinet meeting, the subject was brought up. It is a pity that this city lags far behind other countries of the world. His words had a impact on everyone in the meeting, resulting in the acceptance of the proposal. By the orders of Rezā Shāh, the compound of Jalaliyeh garden was selected, Jalaliyeh garden was located in the north of the then Tehran between Amirabad village and the northern trench of Tehran. This beautiful garden, full of orchards was founded in the early 1900s during the years of Nasir ad- Din Shah. The influences of early 20th century modernist architecture are today readily visible on the campus grounds of the University. The University of Tehran officially inaugurated in 1934, the Amir-abad campus was added in 1945 after American troops left the property as World War II was coming to an end. The university admitted women as students for the first time in 1937, in 1935, the formerly males-only university opened its doors to women as part of the countrys sweeping universal education policy. With over 13,000 current students, TUMS remains the best medical school in Iran, at present, UT comprises 40 faculties, institutes, as well as centers of research and education. The university consists of seven campuses, The Central Pardis Campus, amir Abad Campus is where most of the dormitories are located. The University of Tehran hosts many cultural and academic activities on the national and international levels, UT enjoys the cooperation of foreign countries in holding international conferences, seminars and workshops
4.
Lili Golestan
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Lili Golestan is an Iranian translator, and owner and artistic director of the Golestan Gallery in Tehran. She is the daughter of the filmmaker and writer Ebrahim Golestan, the sister of the late photojournalist Kaveh Golestan and she was born in Tehran in 1944. She spent a number of her years in Abadan, where her father worked as a filmmaker. She was exposed to literature and the arts from an age, being able to interact closely with up. Lili Golestan spent a number of years studying in Paris and upon her return to Iran found success as a translator and author and she is widely travelled and knowledgeable about a broad range of literature
5.
Mani Haghighi
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Mani Haghighi is an Iranian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is the grandson of the writer and filmmaker Ebrahim Golestan and his second feature film, Men at Work, is considered a notable contribution to Iranian cinema as well as world cinema. Its enigmatic comedy is akin to Monty Python, and its most basic elements align it with Looney Tunes, and yet despite its absurdity Men at Work feels completely real and reasonable. Interestingly, Men at Work began as an idea conceived by Abbas Kiarostami, abadan Men at Work Hamoon Bazha Canaan About Elly Modest Reception won the NETPAC Prize for Best Asian Film at the 2012 Berlinale. Iranian cinema Mani Haghighi at the Internet Movie Database
6.
Wykehurst Place
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Wykehurst Place is a Gothic Revival mansion in Bolney, West Sussex, England, resembling more the châteaux of the Loire than an English manor house. It was designed in 1871 by architect Edward Middleton Barry for the banker of German extraction, Henry Huth, MP, at the time of construction it cost £35,000. Its turrets, arches, conical roofs, and many architectural devices give it the appearance of a fairytale mansion, the East lodge fronts the main London-Brighton road. The large black entrance gates are fashioned in wrought iron, massive griffins with spread wings perch on either side of the gates. The entrance to the property leads down a pebble drive to a grassed patio surrounding the house, descending from a 280-foot terrace to a garden and lawn at the back. The mansions exterior— decaying at the time of writing Nicholas Pevsner observed in 1965— and grounds have appeared in a number of dating back to the late 1960s. What a Lovely War, Demons of the Mind, The Legend of Hell House, The Eagle Has Landed, the acclaimed Iranian writer and film maker Ebrahim Golestan has owned and lived in this park ever since the 1980s
7.
Persian language
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Persian, also known by its endonym Farsi, is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and it is mostly written in the Persian alphabet, a modified variant of the Arabic script. Its grammar is similar to that of many contemporary European languages, Persian gets its name from its origin at the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persis, hence the name Persian. A Persian-speaking person may be referred to as Persophone, there are approximately 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, with the language holding official status in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. For centuries, Persian has also been a cultural language in other regions of Western Asia, Central Asia. It also exerted influence on Arabic, particularly Bahrani Arabic. Persian is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-European family, other Western Iranian languages are the Kurdish languages, Gilaki, Mazanderani, Talysh, and Balochi. Persian is classified as a member of the Southwestern subgroup within Western Iranian along with Lari, Kumzari, in Persian, the language is known by several names, Western Persian, Parsi or Farsi has been the name used by all native speakers until the 20th century. Since the latter decades of the 20th century, for reasons, in English. Tajiki is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by the Tajiks, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term Persian as a language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century. Native Iranian Persian speakers call it Fārsi, Farsi is the Arabicized form of Pārsi, subsequent to Muslim conquest of Persia, due to a lack of the phoneme /p/ in Standard Arabic. The origin of the name Farsi and the place of origin of the language which is Fars Province is the Arabicized form of Pārs, in English, this language has historically been known as Persian, though Farsi has also gained some currency. Farsi is encountered in some literature as a name for the language. In modern English the word Farsi refers to the language while Parsi describes Zoroastrians, some Persian language scholars such as Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, and University of Arizona professor Kamran Talattof, have also rejected the usage of Farsi in their articles. The international language-encoding standard ISO 639-1 uses the code fa, as its system is mostly based on the local names. The more detailed standard ISO 639-3 uses the name Persian for the dialect continuum spoken across Iran and Afghanistan and this consists of the individual languages Dari and Iranian Persian. Currently, Voice of America, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also includes a Tajik service and an Afghan service. This is also the case for the American Association of Teachers of Persian, The Centre for Promotion of Persian Language and Literature, Persian is an Iranian language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages
8.
Filmmaking
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Filmmaking is the process of making a film. Filmmaking takes place in places around the world in a range of economic, social, and political contexts. Typically, it involves a number of people, and can take from a few months to several years to complete. Film production consists of five stages, Development, The first stage in which the ideas for the film are created, rights to books/plays are bought etc. Financing for the project has to be sought and greenlit, pre-production, Preparations are made for the shoot, in which cast and film crew are hired, locations are selected and sets are built. Production, The raw elements for the film are recorded during the film shoot, post-production, The images, sound, and visual effects of the recorded film are edited. Distribution, The finished film is distributed and screened in cinemas and released to home video. In this stage, the project producer selects a story, which may come from a book, play, another film, true story, video game, comic book, graphic novel, or an original idea, etc. After identifying a theme or underlying message, the works with writers to prepare a synopsis. Next they produce an outline, which breaks the story down into one-paragraph scenes that concentrate on dramatic structure. Then, they prepare a treatment, a 25-to-30-page description of the story, its mood and this usually has little dialogue and stage direction, but often contains drawings that help visualize key points. Another way is to produce a scriptment once a synopsis is produced, next, a screenwriter writes a screenplay over a period of several months. The screenwriter may rewrite it several times to improve dramatization, clarity, structure, characters, dialogue, however, producers often skip the previous steps and develop submitted screenplays which investors, studios, and other interested parties assess through a process called script coverage. A film distributor may be contacted at a stage to assess the likely market. All these factors imply a certain appeal of the film to a possible audience, not all films make a profit from the theatrical release alone, so film companies take DVD sales and worldwide distribution rights into account. The producer and screenwriter prepare a film pitch, or treatment and they will also pitch the film to actors and directors in order to attach them to the project. Many projects fail to move beyond this stage and enter so-called development hell, if a pitch succeeds, a film receives a green light, meaning someone offers financial backing, typically a major film studio, film council, or independent investor. The parties involved negotiate a deal and sign contracts, once all parties have met and the deal has been set, the film may proceed into the pre-production period
