به نام خداوند جان و خرد

Iran's artistic past recreated in the present


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(19 Jun 2011) SHOTLIST

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City of Shahriar- Southwest of Tehran, Production line of Shahriar Statues & Sculpture Company, 9 May 2011

1. PAN (left to right) of large custom-made replicas of Persian Achaemenian (500 BC) Sculpture Gate of All Nations
2. Tilt-up from replicas of Persepolis 's Gate of All Nations
3. Wide exterior of workshop with sculptors working on the field
4. Pan from a custom-made medium size to wide of Mr. Esfandiyar Imanzadeh talking with his workers
5. Mid of Mr. Imanzadeh overseeing removing of moulds from replica ancient Persian pillars
6. Wide of workers carrying a replica pillar, lining them up for further process
7. Mid of lined-up statues of Persian Achaemenian soldiers, which have been ordered for a hotel decoration
8. Various of workers injecting composite materials into meticulously designed moulds
9. PAN from ancient Persian replica statues piled up in a depository before being transferred to another workshop for further processing in Distressing Workshop
10. Close-up of an Aryo Barzan sculpture, designed and mass produced in memory of a legendary Persian warrior who showed a heroic resistance against invading army of Alexander the Great
11. PAN (left to right) of thousands of statues of dignitaries and inscriptions before being transferred into Distressing Workshop
12. Close-up of hand distressing a small sculpture of an ancient Persian soldier
13. Mid of female workers doing the gentle art of distressing in Shahriar company
14. Close-up of hand distressing a replica of Cyrus Cylinder, one of the best selling products
15. PAN of female workers performing the finishing touches of distressing stage
16. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Esfandiyar Imanzadeh, acclaimed Iranian Sculptor and Designer:
"It was my life-time dream and objective to somehow bring museums to my people's houses. My utmost expectation is to see people remember their past when they see these (art works and sculptures). Last year we produced 1.2 million pieces and these 1.2 million pieces are now located in the best possible places of (Persian)houses, offices, hotels and restaurants as rich and worthy symbols of our national and religious culture. It is very enjoyable."
17. Tilt-up from a custom-made inscription and engraved work of a famous Persian-Turkish poet named Master Shahriar
18. PAN from an inscription work of famous Persian story to poet Shahriar's engraved memorial work
19. Close-up of hand clearing up the remained roughness of a sculpture
20. Wide of supervisor of the distressing workshop overseeing the process, with dozens of Passargad monument, the grave of Cyrus the Great

Tehran, Permanent Exhibition and Sales Office of Shahriar Statues & Sculpture Company , recent
21. Pull-focus from close-up of a face of soldier
22. Tilt-up from a memorial sculpture of Iran-Iraq war(1980-1988) heroes to sculptures of Rostam(Hero of greater Iran in old Persian mythology), Babak(A legendary warrior and revolutionary leader who fought against Arab leader slain in 838) and Mehdi Akhavan-Sales(poet-1928-1990)
23. Wide of customers listening to explanations of Amir Vojdan, sales managers of Shahriar Company
24. PAN from a mythological sculpture to a female customer examining it
25. Low angle of Amir Vojdan, giving explanations on the design of Amir Kabir, a popular chancellor who was slain in a plot in 1851
26. Close-up of a Cyrus the Great sculpture in the hands of a teenage customer
27. Mid of a father and his son examining sculptures
28. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) (no first name given ) Vosough, a customer and dentist:
"I am very proud that these gentlemen have worked hard to pick parts of our 7000 year-old glorious past and bring it to our homes and make the younger generations familiar with our great civilisation, culture and dignitaries. We can easily talk of dialogue of civilisations and export our culture to neighbouring countries as well European countries."
29. Tilt-up from a small stature of Zoroaster, Persian prophet to sculptures of Rostam and a famous Persian revolutionary figure
30. PAN from a variety of replicas, statues and inscriptions laid out for sale
31. Close-up of a replica of famous Sassanid inscription depicting the conquest of a Sassanid Emperor against Roman Empire
32. Wide of cutomers listening to explanations of sales manager
33. SOUNDBITE(Farsi) Amir Vojdan, Sales Manager of Shahriar Statues & Sculpture Company:
"There was a wonderful reception. We thought that just Iranian expatriates might show an interest, but to our astonishment we witnessed that Iranians inside the country were as eager as expatriates to refresh their identity. We have 400 sales representative centres inside Iran and export to 11 European countries."

Tehran, recent
34. Wide exterior of a shopping centre with designs of Persian Achaemenian (500 BC) Sculpture Gate of All Nations and other magnificent ancient Persia designs
35. Pull-focus from two lions sculptures
36. PAN(left to right) from entrance of the shopping centre decorated and designed as a famous Persepolis palace
37. Wide exterior of the shopping centre with lavish ancient Persian decorations
38. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Abolfazl Tavakkoli, owner of modern shopping centre in uptown Tehran :
"We had these (ancient statues and decorations) implemented both for happiness and in memory of our past history and ancient monuments."
39. PAN of the shopping centre compound

Tehran, Nivaran Historical Complex, Inscriptions Garden Museum, recent
40. Tilt-up from a flower to replica of a famous ancient Persia inscription
41. Wide of replicas of ancient inscriptions in Niavaran garden-museum
42. Tilt-up from a replica of an old inscription dating back to 7000 years ago
43. Wide of inscriptions
44. Mid of a Sassanid era inscription
45. Wide of a group of students visiting the garden
46. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Esfandiyar Imanzadeh, Renowned Iranian Sculptor and Designer:
"The project of garden-museum took 9 years to complete. We went to places where inscriptions were located and set up camps, afterwards we started moulding the inscriptions and the outcome was the garden-museum of inscriptions of Iran which exist today. We had two objectives; first, we wanted people have an easy access to these inscriptions; second, since the erosion and destruction process of these inscriptions had accelerated, we were determined to have authentic replicas of them for our file to be preserved in the treasury of National Heritage Organisation."
47. Tilt-down from replica inscription dating back to 2000 BC
48. Wide of a family inspecting the inscriptions
49. Wide of inscriptions garden-museum

LEADIN
A growing number of Iranians are buying replicas of ancient Persian art work for their businesses, homes and offices.
Celebrating the past is seen as a backlash to Iran's recent confrontation with the west, and the production of some anti-Iranian movies which are felt undermine the country.

STORYLINE
The Persian Achaemenid Sculpture Gate of All Nations, dated around 500 BC, is an internationally recognised symbol of ancient Persian culture.
But this Gate of All Nations is not a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's just one of the replicas being made at the Shahriar Statues & Sculpture Company.
The workers here are trying to complete the growing number of orders for replica Persian art work from businesses inside and outside Iran.
Back in 1992, Esfandiyar Imanzadeh, was an ex police officer who little thought he would go on to become a prominent sculptor.
He's now the owner of Shahriar Statues & Sculpture Company, and has dedicated 20 years of his life to incorporating Iran's ancient history and culture into daily life.
These statues of Achaemenian soldiers and pillars are destined to decorate several hotels in Tehran and in a number of other cities across Iran .
These workers, who are experienced sculptors now, have been trained by Imanzadeh himself.
Everybody here has the chance to develop his or her skills and climb up the promotion ladder.
This factory manufactures some 1.2 million pieces annually.
Most statues and sculptures are made from composite materials, but for large-scale important projects Imanzadeh uses a special stone, which he claims to have recently created.
Among the replicas are the bestselling legendary Aryo Barzan fight scene sculpture.
The Persian warrior is depicted heroically resisting the invading army of Alexander the Great.
These female workers are in charge of the more delicate hand work and with distressing (making them appear to be ancient) the objects.
The company sometimes has to sell its products five times cheaper than they cost to make in order to beat off competition but Imanzadeh says he regards his profession as a business of his heart rather than his pocket.
Imanzadeh says: "It was my life-time dream and objective to somehow bring museums to my people's houses. My utmost expectation is to see people remember their past when they see these (art works and sculptures)".
He says he was proud to see that all the 1.2 million products his company has made have been sold out and located in prominent places.
Imanzadeh and his team have also highlighted many old Persian fables, romances and stories through their pieces.
This custom-made inscription bears the work of the eminent Persian-Turkish poet named Master Shahriar.
Some of the best-belling products include the Passargad monument; the burial places of Cyrus the Great, the founder of Persian Empire; the small replica of Gate of all Nations; Aryo Barzan, the Persian warrior; Rostam, the Hero of greater Iran in old Persian mythology; and Amir Kabir, a popular chancellor who was slain in a plot in 1851.
Imanzadeh's work has been recognised by the Ferdowsi Foundation.
There's a permanent exhibition of the replicas and the company receives hundreds of visitors from all walks of life. Many of the visitors stop by to see if any new work has been unveiled.
Dr. Vosough wants to make sure his son is raised to understand the rich Persian culture at a time when many young people are suffering from identity crisis.
He says: "I am very proud that these gentlemen have worked hard to pick parts of our 7000 year-old glorious past and bring it to our homes and make the younger generations familiar with our great civilization, culture and dignitaries".
Amir Vojdan is the Sales Manager of the company and enthusiastically explains the details of each statue and nuances which have been taken into considerations in the designing process.
Vojdan says the company was under the impression that the target market would be just Iranian expatriates but the domestic market's thirst for such products surprised company managers.
He says: "We have 400 sales representative centres inside Iran, and export to 11 European countries."
Mr Tavakkoli is an octogenarian Iranian who has spent 2.5 million USD dollars to have part of Persepolis in his shopping centre.
Tavavakkoli says: "We had these (ancient statues and decorations) implemented both for happiness and memorial of our past history and ancient monuments."
Imanzadeh has also created a garden-museum which includes inscriptions from Tehran 's Niavaran historical complex.
He and his team spent nine years in various parts of Iran copying and reproducing more than fifty inscriptions from across the country.
He says he had two objectives: first, he wanted people have easy access to the inscriptions which are spread across the country: second, he's concerned about the erosion and destruction process of these inscriptions which has accelerated.
He says: "we were determined to have authentic replicas of them for our records, to be preserved in the treasury of National Heritage Organisation."

برگرفته شده از وبسایت آسوشیتِد پِرِس Associated Press News