International Festival of "Pantomime" in Diyala

Baghdad - INA - Fatima Rahma

Diyala Theater Troupe, in cooperation with the Society of Fine Arts in Sulaymaniyah and the Theater House in the General Union of Writers, is preparing to hold the "First Pantomime" festival, the Muhyiddin Zangana session, during an initial date that starts on Saturday, October 22, 2021 for four days, and the exhibition sites are distributed between Baghdad Baquba and Sulaymaniyah .

The head of the troupe, artist Salem al-Zaidi, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the festival will be held under the slogan "silent revelation of the depth of imagination, bringing distances closer and purifying the human soul," noting that "the roots of silent theater extend to long ages."

 He added, "The pantomime witnessed various stages that made it an independent art after it was included in games, dance and popular celebrations. Its techniques developed and its methods diversified, relying on the actor's capabilities of agility movements and the ability to create inspirations and transform imagination into reality."

Al-Zaidi added that "the festival will include theatrical performances and an intellectual symposium on the role of technological technologies in the development and diversity of performance methods in pantomime performances, the actor's sources in building kinetic suggestions and expressive sentences in pantomime scenes, the dramatic narration in the structure of pantomime performances, and the pioneers of pantomime art globally, Arab and Iraqi.".

 The prospects of pantomime art in social media spaces,” noting that “training workshops will be organized to provide practical applications and theoretical ideas about the tools of the pantomime artist and how he can develop and use them to achieve the desired goals.”

The head of the Diyala Theater Company said, “The festival will receive Iraqi, Arab and international performances, limited to the art of pantomime only, provided that the duration of the show does not exceed thirty minutes, and that the performances have serious humanitarian contents that serve the goals of the festival and meet the needs of the audience, presented by three actors, and sent to the festival administration. An integrated video about the show,” declaring, “The shows will compete for the three festival awards, best director, best performance, best scenography, best integrated work, best makeup, masks and music.”

He pointed out that "the festival will be held in Baghdad, Diyala and Sulaymaniyah, where it will open in Baghdad and move to Baquba and then Sulaymaniyah."