'Shahnameh' to enter Guinness book

Sat Dec 11, 2010

The Austrian Academy of Science has suggested that the 11th-century Persian masterpiece Shahnameh be registered on the Guinness World Records list.

Secretary General of Iran's Ferdowsi Foundation Yasser Movahhedfar announced the news, adding that the Austrian academy offered the suggestion during a ceremony held in Vienna to commemorate Shahnameh's millennial anniversary.

The foundation has also produced an animation on the epic masterpiece, Movahhedfar said.

“Directed by Shahram Salemi, Nature in Shahnameh will take part in the 2011 edition of Eko Film Festival, which will be held in March next year,” he told Fars News Agency.

“The animation is an innovative work which is based on manuscripts from the Baysonqori Shahnameh,” he added.

The Baysonqori Shahnameh is an illustrated manuscript of Ferdowsi's masterpiece, which was calligraphed by Maulana Jafar Tabrizi Baysonqori in the Timurid era. The manuscript is registered on UNESCO's Memory of the World list.

Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) is a classic among epic Persian poetry and recounts Iran's mythical and historical past. It was written in Persian at a time when Arabic was the main scientific and literary language of Iran.

The romance of Zal and Rudaba, the Seven Stages (or Labors) of Rostam, Rostam and Sohrab, Siavash and Soudabeh, Rostam and Akvan Div, the romance of Bizhan and Manizheh and Rostam and Esfandyar are among the most popular Shahnameh stories.

Movahhedfar also announced that the foundation's other cultural and artistic projects such as holding discussion sessions with Shahnameh experts and organizing Naqqali programs.

Naqqali is an epic narration mostly inspired by Shahnameh stories.

Dating back to the Safavid Dynasty, Naqqali can be performed in verse or prose and by only one person, who presents it with a special tone and expression, playing the roles of all characters.

The foundation is also making a film on Shahnameh, based on a five-year research project, which will be screened in European countries, Movahhedfar added.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155027.html.