Excess of silence produces awe.
 

An Iranian short film ‘Elegy’, directed by Yousef Kargar, was nominated as the best short film at the Third Summer Slam Film Festival (SSFF) 2015 making it closer for nomination to the Academy Awards.
In its latest international presence, ‘Elegy’ is Iran’s sole representative in competition with films from the US, Australia, Germany, Canada, Greece, the UK and Bulgaria, reported Mehr News Agency.
A combination of 16 filmmakers and critics will judge the selected films for the festival awards.
Best of Festival, Best Narrative, Best Experimental Film and Best Animation will be winners of the SSFF which not only gain prestige and financial support, but can also qualify for Annual Academy Awards.
‘Elegy’, produced by the Orumieh office of Iranian Youth Cinema Society, tells the story of an old man who has been waiting for the return of his missing son for 25 years.
Kargar’s production has been screened internationally in a number of film festivals including those in the US, Tanzania, Italy, Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Russia.
The Summer Slam Film Festival is committed to providing direct support to filmmakers. The festival’s 2015 awards will present over $12,000 to filmmakers in cash, prizes and awards. The two-day festival will be held on September 26 in Texas, the US.
 

Emmy Awards ceremony on Sunday night was watched by a record low of 11.9 million viewers on US television, down nearly 4 million compared to last year.
The 2014 awards were seen by 15.6 million, but aired on a Monday and did not have to compete with an NFL game, BBC wrote. Previous lows include 12.3 million in both 1990 and in 2008, according to Nielsen figures published in Variety. HBO drama ‘Game of Thrones’ dominated Sunday’s ceremony, winning a record-breaking 12 awards. Among its biggest awards were best drama series and best supporting actor for Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister.
Other winners at the Los Angeles ceremony included Mad Men’s Jon Hamm, who won best actor in a drama, and Viola Davis who made history as the first black woman to win lead actress in a drama for her role in ‘How to Get Away With Murder’.
The Emmys still proved a popular subject on social media though, generating more than one million tweets and 14 million Facebook interactions — with Davis’s victory the most talked-about moment of the night.
Political comedy Veep, Amazon’s transgender comedy ‘Transparent’, mini-series Olive Kitteridge and sketch show ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ were among the evening’s other winners. The ceremony, hosted by comedian Andy Samberg for the first time, failed to attract the kind of audiences this year’s other big awards ceremonies have witnessed. The Oscars was seen by 37.3 million people, while 24.8 million watched the Grammys and 19.3 million tuned in for the Golden Globes.
 

Iran will unveil a film download application called ‘Film Net’ at the 16th International Exhibition of Telecommunications, Information Technology and Solutions.
‘Film Net’ system, as the first Iranian film distribution and sales network, is a product of Ayeneh Jadoo digital cultural institution, which provides opportunity to download and watch favorite movies at any moment, according to Mehr News Agency.
The system has also enabled users to download and watch the desired films at the lowest cost.
‘Film Net’ will be unveiled on the first day of the exhibition in a ceremony to be attended by officials from the Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Culture as well as information technology activists and cultural figures.
The objectives of the newly developed virtual system are to promote the content, efficient services, competition based on Islamic-Iranian values and culture with special attention to health and safety in all aspects of cyberspace in addition to advocating norms, values and Iranian lifestyle as well as educational equity.
The three-day event will kick off on September 26  in Tehran.
 

French auction house Artcurial will be selling the Islamic art collection of Pierre Bergé — Yves Saint Laurent, on October 31 in the salons of the Palace Es Saadi in Marrakech. The sale  ‘A Moroccan Passion’ will be held in aid of the Jardin Majorelle Foundation.
“As soon as we arrived in Morocco, both Yves Saint Laurent and I were fascinated by Islamic art and so decided to collect it. (…) The Jardin Majorelle Foundation, which I chair, will be selling all these carefully chosen pieces. The proceeds from this sale will enable us to continue improving the garden and to welcome, in the best possible fashion, the numerous visitors which last year amounted to almost 800,000. They will also help finance the Yves Saint Laurent museum that will open in 2017, in the new cultural center near the garden and to pursue the various cultural, educational and social activities that the Jardin Majorelle Foundation has been supporting in Morocco since its creation in 2011,” explained Bergé in the preface to the sale catalogue.
According to artdaily.com, the collection will bring together almost 180 items of Moroccan art — weapons, embroidery, cloth, ceramics, jewelry, carpets, architectural components — which were exhibited in the Jardin Majorelle Museum, before its focus turned exclusively to Berber art during its renovation in 2011.
The sale will also include all the furniture by Bill Willis, star architect of the Marrakech jet set, designed for the museum by Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent. The couple will add more than 50 pieces of furniture and paintings from their own personal collection to the 180 lots from the museum.
“As well as being a great tribute to Morocco, this sale is, significantly, a perfect combination of beautiful things, with legendary provenance, and a wise and generous use of the proceeds. We couldn’t have wished for more from our first sale in Morocco,” said Artcurial Co-Chairman and auctioneer François Tajan.
 

An new art exhibition is open to the public in Derry from September 25 through October 9 at UK’s Holywell Trust Building, showcasing the creative talents of a group of older people who have experienced mental ill-health.
The exhibition features an eclectic and mix of engaging artworks including reduction prints, paintings, photography and ceramics, derrynow.com wrote.
The display showcases works by members of the Beacon Wellbeing day center.
Beacon Wellbeing — a part of Niamh (Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health) — has been providing support for people in Derry experiencing mental ill-health for 23 years.
The center facilitates a wide range of activities throughout the year and opportunities for outreach trips, mainly during the summer period. More recently, the center has expanded activities and now has an allotment at Ballougry Road which, with the support of a volunteer instructor, helps members engage in gardening and growing their own fruit and vegetables.
The allotment project has had the positive side effect of encouraging members to adopt healthier eating patterns as they enjoy the various crops that the allotment provides.
However, arts and crafts has always been one of the most popular activities in the center and is an area where Manager Alison Foley is always on the lookout for new ways in which to engage as many members as possible in connecting with their inner creativity as a means to both express themselves and promote a sense of personal pride and achievement.
This is what led Alison to apply to the Art Council of Northern Ireland’s Arts and Older People Program. Launched in June 2010, the program was established to increase opportunities for older people to engage with the arts. The 2013-2016 program aims to strengthen the voice of older people and promote positive mental health and emotional well-being through the arts.