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Interesting Developments on Iran's Gaming Industry.

a)The influence of "Prince of Persia" on Iran and, specifically, Iran’s video game industry is irrefutably strong and seriously everlasting.Now the news is The French video game publisher Ubisoft released the first major installment,of the popular video game,where the characters speak Farsi.

Speaking about the collaboration with Ubisoft Montpellier, a subsidiary of Ubisoft, the secretary general of the Tehran Broadcast & Dubbing Association said: “The French company, together with an intermediary company in Iran, negotiated with different groups and asked for voice samples. 

“Finally, they selected Moj-e-Ketab Digital Publishing Group for dubbing the game in Persian,” Honaronline quoted Sobhan Ekrami, who served as the director of the dubbing team, as saying on Sunday.

“When the dubbing process was over, they liked the work. According to their procedure, before the official release of the game, the company had some gamers, especially some famous Persian-speaking gamers, play and assess the game. Fortunately, it was well received by all the gamers. Upon the release of the game, the company suggested to all the customers that for a better experience of the game play it in Farsi,” he added.

The “Prince of Persia” franchise draws heavily on Persian mythology and Iranian culture, but until now has always been in English. 

Below screenshots by the previous instalments of “Prince of Persia”.

The game's designer, Mounir Radi, said that the developers wanted to “depict and respect Persia and Iran” in the gameplay. “It was natural for us to say, 'if we are going into this culture, we have to be true to this culture, we have to do this”.

Among the updates for the new version was an increased effort to add elements like language and history that made the game more authentic to the region it depicts.

The game's producer Abdelhak Elguess said they were “very proud” to have made the changes. “We have so many people from Persian cultures that are very happy,” he said.

Emad Saedi has been a fan of the games since he was a child when he connected with the series' cultural references to Persia but says something always felt off.

“Those games were missing a fundamental element of the culture the prince came from: language,” he said. “My friends and I always had this question that if he's a Persian prince, how come he speaks English or any language except Persian? Isn't that odd?”

Emad said it is a “huge step forward” to include the language, in part because he felt Iran and Persian culture are “under-represented in today's world”.

“In a world that is saturated with Western culture content, seeing something from other parts of the world feels like a breath of fresh air, especially from a hidden gem like Iran,” he said. “It feels like we are finally being seen after being ignored for many years. There are many wonderful stories in our culture with massive commercial potential - I hope the entertainment industry recognizes this opportunity and continues to invest in them”.

Persian is spoken by a significant number of people worldwide, totaling around 130 million. Other than Iran, it serves as an official language in various countries including Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

“Prince of Persia” is centered around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia.

Its latest installment “The Lost Crown” has been released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S and received positive reviews from critics and gamers.

The game was heavily inspired by Persian mythology, with Radi adding that the team wanted to “bring some light to a mythology that maybe should be better known,” as well as showing how Persian culture has affected other mythologies.

Source:https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/493995/New-Prince-of-Persia-game-voiced-in-Farsi

b)Serious Efforts to Prevent Brain drain The Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has pledged its support,in an effort to prevent the migration of game developers and boost the gaming industry.

Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili stated that game developers are crucial cultural elements in the country and that the ministry is working tirelessly to eliminate obstacles and stop their migration, Mehr reported on Saturday. 

Esmaeili emphasized that the gaming industry is a vital cultural and artistic sector in the country. He stated, "We have requested the National Foundation of Computer Games' board of directors to assess all barriers in this field and actively work towards resolving them."

He continued by highlighting the attractiveness of the gaming industry and the potential consequences of not providing suitable platforms for talented individuals. "If we fail to create favorable conditions for these skilled developers, we may lose some of them," he cautioned.

"We are committed to preventing the migration of game developers by removing obstacles and offering support," Esmaeili affirmed.

Esmaeili further emphasized that game developers are the country's most significant cultural figures, emphasizing that the gaming industry is not merely a technological sector. Rather, he believes that it serves as a valuable cultural and artistic tool that can contribute to the intellectual advancement of society, address various issues, and promote societal values.

Esmaeili reiterated the ministry's supportive stance towards the gaming industry and game developers, stating that they will continue to provide assistance and foster its expansion.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/493952/Culture-ministry-aims-to-prevent-game-developers-migration-for

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Beyonce by Mohannad www.THETEHRANTIMES.com

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The temple for the deity of fertility:Anahita

Below: The UNESCO-registered Takht-e Soleyman, which was once a prime fire temple of the Zoroastrian faith in ancient Persia, seeks to develop tourism infrastructure, a local official said on Tuesday.

The remains at Kangavar, which is the subject of the present story, are jam-packed with genuine Persian architectural designs. For instance, the plinth's enormous dimensions, which are just over 200 meters on each side, and its megalithic foundations, which are reminiscent of Achaemenid stone platforms.

The ruined temple, which is one of the most glorious stone buildings after Persepolis in the country, has been constructed on a natural hill by using the platform method.

Three historical eras —Achaemenid, Parthian, and Sassanid— have been credited with building the temple. Some theories connected the building to Khosrow II's unfinished palace from the late Sassanid period.

The temple’s structure has a four-square layout, with each side resembling a platform. It was built using the dry stone method, which involves placing building materials directly on top of one another without the use of mortar. It was also plastered with carved stones used to decorate the exterior facade.

In addition to a one-way stairway that provides access to the building in the northeastern part of the structure, the entrances are built into two-way stairways in the building's southern portion.

Inside and outside of the temple, a space is created by a line of parallel columns. The expansive outdoor space is also surrounded by stone columns.

The ratio of the height of columns to their diameter is three to one, which differentiates Anahita temple from all the temples across the world.

The Anahita Temple is said to stand out from all other temples because of its three-to-one ratio of column height to diameter.

Stone ditches have regulated the river water and magnificently channeled it to the temple's central pond. Additionally, one of the engineering marvels of that time was the type of water stream in the temple.

A roughly quadrilateral-shaped, substantial platform made of large, unworked rubble stones, smaller stones, and gypsum mortar frames the Kangavar natural hill. The platform's outer walls are 18 m thick, and its west and south sides each measure 224 and 209 meters, respectively.

According to Iranica, up to the first half of the 20th century, scholars pleaded for an ideal reconstruction of a columned temple on the “Greek” ground plan standing on a high platform or terrace with a monumental staircase on the south side of the terrace.

This temple has been dated to the 2nd or 1st century CE. During the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the ruins were the object of vast devastation as the site was used as a quarry to get building materials for the expanding settlement of modern Kangavar.

Since 1968, Iranian archaeologists have been excavating the site in an effort to preserve it and learn more specifically about the ruins.

The ancient Iranian deity Anahita is thought to have been associated with two archaeological sites in the country. The larger and better-known of the two is situated in Kermanshah province’s Kangavar. The other one is in Bishapur of Fars province.

Below:Ancient Artifact depicting Anahita:

Kangavar can be reached via a modern road from Hamadan to Kermanshah. It is located at a distance of about 75 km from Hamadan and 96 km from Kermanshah.

Original source:https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/482872/Discover-temple-dedicated-to-deity-of-fertility-and-rain

and more :https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/481227/UNESCO-designated-Takht-e-Soleyman-to-turn-more-tourist-friendly

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Thrilling archaelogical dicoveries

TEHRAN—Archaeologists in western Iran have found over 1,000 clay seals (and fragments) along with other “important” relics estimated to date from the Elamite era (3200–539 BC).

“We unearthed arrays of important objects such as over 1,000 clay seals while conducting an urgent excavation on an archaeological hill in Kermanshah province,” IRNA quoted archaeologist Shokouh Khosravi as saying on Monday.

Moreover, a number of earthen animal figurines and counting objects belonging to the early Elamite culture have been discovered in these excavations, Khosravi, who leads the excavations said.

“Those objects are unique in their kind in western Iran,” she said.

The archaeologist said those findings mark the first archaeological materials of the Elamite period in the west of the central Zagros region

“The finding triggers fundamental changes in our understanding and knowledge about the situation of western Iran in the fourth millennium BC,” Khosravi stated.

During the excavation, which is authorized by the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, a large number of clay door locks, hundreds of pieces of container seals, and a cylinder seal were also found, which shows the site was an administrative center for organizing economic and exchange affairs in the early Elamite period, she explained.

“As the excavations continue, more information will be obtained about the nature and absolute history of settlement on the site.”

Experts say the Kermanshah region has had one million years of archaeological continuity, which is due to the geographical features such as a high number of springs and fertile soil.

Elam, or the Elamite kingdom, was one of the most impressive civilizations of the ancient world. Its territory was once in a region, which is now situated in the modern Iranian provinces of Ilam and Khuzestan.

However, according to sources, it was never a cohesive ethnic kingdom or polity but rather a federation of different tribes governed at various times by cities such as Susa, Anshan, and Shimashki until it was united during the Middle Elamite Period, briefly, as an empire.

The name Elam was given to the region by others– the Akkadians and Sumerians of Mesopotamia–– and is thought to be their version of what the Elamites called themselves– Haltami (or Haltamti)– meaning “those of the high country.” 'Elam', therefore, is usually translated to mean“highlands” or “high country” as it comprised settlements on the Iranian Plateau that stretched from the southern plains to the elevations of the Zagros Mountains.

Susa was formerly the capital of the Elamite Empire and later an administrative capital of the king of Achaemenian Darius I and his successors of 522 BC. Throughout the late prehistoric periods, Elam was closely tied culturally to Mesopotamia. Later, perhaps because of domination by the Akkadian dynasty (c. 2334–c. 2154 BC), Elamites adopted the Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform script.

Documents from the second period, which lasted from the 16th to the 8th century BC, are written in cuneiform; the stage of the language found in these documents is sometimes called Old Elamite. The last period of Elamite texts is that of the reign of the Achaemenian kings of Persia (6th to 4th century BC), who used Elamite, along with Akkadian and Old Persian, in their inscriptions. The language of this period, also written in the cuneiform script, is often called New Elamite.

Although all three stages of Elamite have not been completely deciphered, several grammatical features of the language are known to scholars. These include a plural formation using the suffix -p, the personal pronouns, and the endings of several verb forms.

Elamite language is an extinct language spoken by the Elamites in the ancient country of Elam, which included the region from the Mesopotamian plain to the Iranian Plateau. According to Britannica, Elamite documents from three historical periods have been found. The earliest Elamite writings are in a figurative or pictographic script and date from the middle of the 3rd millennium BC.

Just to notice how the name Elam was written, n the various languages of the ancient times: Liner Elamite:hatamti Cuneiform Elamite: 𒁹𒄬𒆷𒁶𒋾 ḫalatamti; Sumerian:𒉏𒈠 elam; Akkadian:𒉏𒈠𒆠 elamtu,hebrew:עֵילָם ʿēlām, Old persian:𐎢𐎺𐎩 hūja

Source: https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/489442/Amazing-archaeological-finds-dating-back-to-Elamite-era-unearthed

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Bad news about Iranian  Animation(:

This real BAD news,that concerns not only the Present,but the Whole Future  of the Iranian Animation Industry.While the occidental news outlets are going with the approach about “the rights of women”,”equality” they don’t care about an awful news.

Iranian animators attracted to foreign studios over weak local currency: expert. December 4, 2022 - 18:37

Photo below: This file photo shows Iranian animators working at a studio of the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults – Kanoon. (Kanoon/Hamid Tavakkoli)

“Due to a sharp decline in the value of the local currency in comparison to the dollar, Iranian animation studios are willing to work for other countries,” Ali Azizi told the Persian service of MNA.

“These studios were previously selling their productions to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), but I’ve heard that IRIB has not paid them as a result of the precarious circumstances surrounding its funding,” he added.

“Moreover, strict IRIB rules and regulations impose certain restrictions on animation works, while animators want to have a free hand to let them use their creativity. As a result, they are reluctant to work with IRIB,” explained Azizi who was formerly a manager of an animation school.

He has recently quit his job to direct an animation project.

Azizi said there are animation studios in Turkey that are working with Iranian animators who are even allowed to work remotely. Their projects are totally or partly done by Iranian studios.

The Turkish studios pay the Iranian animators less than they pay their local employees. Nevertheless, the wages paid to them are still higher than what they receive in Iran.     He said that some Iranian animators have also been duped and have failed to receive their wages from the Turkish studios.

The animation industry has developed in Iran over the past decade, but the country has failed to exploit its commercial potential.

Ashkan Rahgozar, the director of Hoorakhsh, a major animation studio in Tehran, has frequently warned about the emigration of skilled and even semi-professional people working in the country’s animation industry.

Images below:from the iranian,epic,animated movie “The last Fiction”.

In an interview conducted last year, he said the financial motivations are the key factors in these migrations.

“Iran has not done well on efficiently training human resources in this field, and the professionals’ migration issue has really become serious. We are seeing them going to foreign companies for higher salaries. I see no bright prospect for improvement in human resources here, because even semi-professionals are easily attracted by overseas companies,” said Rahgozar who is the director of the acclaimed animated movie, “The Last Fiction”.

MMS/YAW

My Understanding

This is the Real Significant news.I fear that the iranian animated movie “The Last Fiction” might be a Swan Song!(: “Who’s fault is this?” Not of the iranian regime.It’s of others, who fill us with the unessential claims(yes,claims isn’t the real thing)about human rights,and they passby that the strict sanctions make life harder for the creative people,such as Iranian animators.

Source: https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/479368/Iranian-animators-attracted-to-foreign-studios-over-weak-local

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Japanese Movies In Iran

Ten great movies by Japanese filmmakers have been chosen to be screened during the program, which has been in progress since April 11.

Below: A scene from Japanese director Takeshi Kitano’s 2002 movie “Dolls”.

One screening has been scheduled for each film, which is held every Monday and is followed by a review session by an Iranian critic.

Director Takeshi Kitano’s 2002 movie “Dolls” will be screened at 5 pm followed by a review session by Iranian critic Mehdi Malek.

In this visually stunning drama, three romantic tales are told using elements of Japanese Bunraku puppet theater.

In the first, Sawako (Miho Kanno) becomes suicidal when her fiancé, Matsumoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima), leaves her to marry the boss's daughter. Next, an obsessed fan, Nukui (Tsutomu Takeshige), expresses his love for pop singer Haruna (Kyoko Fukada) in a highly violent manner. Then, aging gangster Hiro (Tatsuya Mihashi) attempts to reconnect with an old flame (Chieko Matsubara).

“Dreams”, a 1990 magical realist film of eight vignettes written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, and “Labyrinth of Dreams”, a 1997 mystery film directed by Gakuryu Ishii, were screened over the past two weeks.

The program also features “Nobody Knows”, director Hirokazu Koreeda’s 2004 drama film based on the 1988 Sugamo child abandonment case.

“The Taste of Tea”, the third film by writer and director Katsuhito Ishii, which has been referred to as a “surreal” version of Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander”, will also be screened.

“The Hidden Blade”, a 2004 film set in 1860s Japan, directed by Yoji Yamada, is another highlight of the program. The film follows several samurai during a time of change in the ruling and class structures of Japan.

Also included are “The Mourning Forest” by Naomi Kawase, “Tokyo Sonata” by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, “Confessions” by Tetsuya Nakashima and “13 Assassins” by Takashi Miike.

Source:https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/471977/Iranian-Artists-Forum-reviews-contemporary-Japanese-cinema

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