Abbas Kiarostami

Abbas Kiarostami, born in Tehran on June 22, 1940, took an interest in drawing at an early age. Upon passing the entrance exam for a graphic art course, he left the family home at age 18. From 1960 to 1968, he designed some titles for fiction films, including those for M. Kimiai’s renowned GHEYSHAR. While working as a clerk in a police station, he enrolled at the Fine Arts School. In 1969, he founded the Cinema Department of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. This department subsequently became one of the most prestigious studios in Iran. Directors who have worked there include A. Naderi, B. Bayzaï, D. Mehrjui, E. Forozesh, Dj. Panahi, Sobrah Sh. Saless… Since 1970, Abbas Kiarostami has shot a large number of short films and features. His favorite subject until 1991 was childhood. He likes to work with non-professional actors in natural settings. His work is imbued with Chekhovian humor and tinged with poetry. He has been a jury member in a number of festivals: Locarno in 1990, Cannes in 1993, Venice in 1985, San Sebastian in 1996. He won the Cannes Palme d’Or in 1997 for TASTE OF CHERRY.

Tickets

$26.95 | 115 minutes

(2005) - Director

This triptych from acclaimed directors Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach, and Ermanno Olmi weaves together three interrelated stories about passengers on a train to Rome, who meet each other in passing but are linked by deeper themes and issues&hellip…

Crimson Gold

$21.95 | 97 minutes

(2004) - Screenwriter

An expertly crafted film that allows the daily activities of a pizza delivery man to depict the complicated social structure of modern-day Iran, CRIMSON GOLD is directed by Jafar Panahi (THE CIRCLE) from a screenplay by Abbas Kiarostami&hellip…

Ten

$24.95 | 83 minutes

(2003) - Director

Filmed entirely inside a car, a woman drives through the streets of Tehran, picking up and dropping off passengers--her son, a friend, her sister, a prostitute--as she runs errands and goes about her busy days. The title TEN represents&hellip…

ABC Africa

$21.95 | 84 minutes

(2002) - Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Originally intended as a documentary about the orphans of Uganda's destructive civil war, Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami (TASTE OF CHERRY) expanded the scope of ABC AFRICA to include those stricken by Africa's massive AIDS epidemic and&hellip…

Ahmad Shamlou - Master Poet of Liberty

$19.95 | 62 minutes

(1999) - Director

A 1987 nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Ahmad Shamlou is a celebrated Iranian writer, poet, and journalist who played a key role in the development of Persian blank verse. Shamlou's work combined abstract elements with specific&hellip…

The Wind Will Carry Us

$23.95 | 118 minutes

(1999) - Director

In what critics call director Abbas Kiarostami's most socially critical film, THE WIND WILL CARRY US has an abstract plot, which is mostly symbolic. A man named Behzad and two of his collegues travel from Tehran, Iran, to the tiny village&hellip…

Taste of Cherry

$25.95 | 95 minutes

(1997) - Director, Editor, Screenwriter

Emerging out of an Iranian cinema renaissance, TASTE OF CHERRY is seen by many as its crowning achievement. The story of somber yet intense Mr. Badii and his journey through Tehran, the film emerges as a sort of spiritual road movie. Intent&hellip…

Close-Up

$26.95 | 100 minutes

(1990) - Director

With his use of non-actors and his loose use of documentary rules, Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's (TASTE OF CHERRY) films can often be characterized by asking whether what the viewer is seeing is reality or fiction. The film which&hellip…