Information provided by Kersi Shroff, Metropolitan Washington DC

Films On Ferdowsi, Shahnameh

 Two films and a documentary focusing on Hakim Abulqasem Ferdowsi and his epic masterpiece, Shahnameh, will be produced.

 Announcing this, deputy head of Ferdowsi Foundation, Meysam Movahhed-Fard said that the move is part of the programs to mark the end of composing Shahnameh by Ferdowsi which falls on March 16, as it was mentioned in Shahnameh.

 Production of another film on Shahnameh tales is also on the agenda, he noted.

 Movahhed-Fard further noted that special programs will be held both in Tehran and Ferdowsi’s birthplace, Paj Village, on March 16, marking the day when Ferdowsi completed versification of his epic work.

 The foundation is in talk with different organs such as Foreign Ministry and Culture and Islamic Relations Organization to organize cultural weeks in foreign countries such as Malaysia and Turkmenistan.

 Organizing periodical tours to commemorate Ferdowsi and Shahnameh recital are among other programs of Ferdowsi Foundation to mark the 1000th anniversary of Shahnameh completion.

 Designation of 2010 as the ‘Millennium of Shahnameh’ was approved during the 181st Summit of UNESCO.

 Shahnameh (Book of Kings) is an enormous poetic opus written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi around 1000 AD and is the national epic of the Persian-speaking world. It tells the mythical and historical past of Iran from the creation of the world up to the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century.

 Aside from its literary importance, it is written in almost pure Persian unmixed with adoptions from Arabic, has been pivotal for reviving the Persian language after the massive influence of Arabic.

 This voluminous work, regarded by Persian speakers as a literary masterpiece, also reflects Persia’s history, cultural values, ancient religion (Zoroastrianism), and profound sense of nationhood.

 Illustrated copies of the work are among the most sumptuous examples of Persian miniature painting.