News in Brief
Nowruz travels in Iran increase by 15%: Minister
IRNA – The number of trips made by Iranians during Nowruz, Persian New Year, holidays (from March 16 to April 4) increased by 15 percent compared with the previous year, said Iranian Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Ezzatollah Zarghami.
He made the statement on Wednesday, adding that last year, a total of 50 million overnight stays were registered, and this year this index reached 57.1 million, which includes official stays as well as unofficial and emergency stays, IRNA reported.
Mazandaran, Gilan and Khorasan Razavi were the top three provinces in attracting Nowruz tourists, followed by Hormuzgan and Khuzestan, the minister noted.
He also said that this year during Nowruz, the country witnessed a record six million visits to cultural centers, and about $620,000 of revenue was generated from these centers. The minister said the ministry’s policy is to increase the number of countries which do not require a visa for entering Iran, in order to attract more tourists to the country, adding, “We have prioritized holding familiarization tours to attract visitors from China and Russia.”
Iranian director Samadi named jury member at Belgian festival
IRNA – Iranian director and scriptwriter, Farnoosh Samadi, was selected as a jury member of the Brussels Short Film Festival, slated to be held from April 26 to May 6, in Brussels, Belgium.
Samadi will judge the films at the International Section of the Belgian film festival, along with Lucie Zhang (France), and Antoine Wielemans (Belgium).
She was among the jury members of several international festivals including the Beirut International Women’s Film Festival in Lebanon, the 24th Archipelago International Festival of Short Film and New Images in Italy, and the 66th Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain.
Samadi is an Iranian filmmaker who graduated from the Fine Art Academy in Rome. She worked as a co-writer in Ali Asgari’s award-winning short films.