ID :
287316
Wed, 05/29/2013 - 12:54
Auther :

Academy established in honor of theater personality Hamid Samadarian

TEHRAN,May 29(MNA) -- A theater academy named after the prominent Iranian stage director, playwright, and recognized teacher of Iranian modern theater Hamid Samandarian has recently been established. Samandarian’s widow Homa Rusta, his son Kaveh and a number of his students and friends came together in a meeting at the Iranian Artists Forum in Tehran on Monday to announce the founding of the Samandarian Theater Academy They also announced the establishment of the Samandarian Awards, which will be organized annually by the academy on April 29 which is the birthday of Samandarian. Samandarian died of liver cancer at the age of 81 on July 12, 2012. “We decided to no longer mourn for him because he is alive for me and all his fans,” Rusta said in the meeting. “So we were determined to organize the awards ceremony on his birthday,” she added. “This academy was established to help his memory live on, and also to find and promote talent in the avant-garde and creative theater,” she stated. The venue for the academy is the Samandarian Center for Artistic Education, which he established in 1992. Many Iranian stage and screen stars have been trained at the center. The board of trustees of the academy is comprised of nine members, who will select a jury of 40 experts for the awards. Homa Rusta, Kaveh Samandarian, directors Hamid Labkhandeh, Mohammd Yaqubi and Hamid Purazari, actor/director Mohammad-Hassan Majuni, graphic designer Ebrahim Haqiqi, and critics Fariborz Daraii and Mohammad-Rasul Sadeqi are the members of the board. The awards will be presented to one play and one member of the crew of a performance. The process for deciding which plays and actors are nominated for best play and best artist at the Samandarian Awards is exacting. The jury must watch plays to vote. The awards are dedicated to plays performed in Tehran’s theaters. However, Rusta expressed her hope that they would be able to cover performances in other Iranian cities. The awards will be sponsored by the Baroque Theater and Gallery, an institute in the private sector. “We do not accept public sector sponsorship, because the state-run institutes are not in harmony with our interests. In exchange for their support, they make unreasonable requests,” Rusta said.

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