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Kiarostami, twenty years ago | INTERVIEW

Abbas Kiarostami passed away on July 4th, 2016. He was 76.

Kiarostami, that filmmaker who spoke in a sweet and elegant voice and made the slow films that have, for long, been part of the pantheon, died nearly two weeks ago. Remembering an article that was published about twenty years ago I dug through an old box and found a Chanteh, a lit quarterly published in the D.C. area that was about Iranians. A special issue on Iranian cinema came out in spring of ... more >

CANNES – KIAROSTAMI ANNOUNCES CINEFONDATION WINNERS

"The bigger picture" given joint third prize
Cinefondation acknowledges finished student films
Program was created by Gilles Jacob

(FROM THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE) The Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury headed by Abbas Kiarostami and including Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Noémie Lvovsky, Daniela Thomas and Joachim Trier, has awarded the 2014 Cinéfondation Prizes during a ceremony held in the Buñuel Theatre, followed by the screening of the winning films. The Cinéfondation Selection consisted of sixteen student films, chosen out ... more >

KIAROSTAMI to shoot Japanese-language film

Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, whose film “Taste of Cherry” won the Palme D’Or in 1997, is working on a Japanese-language project called “The End.” It’s a drama about a modern-day relationship in today’s Japan. The story goes like this: Akiko, a university student, sells herself to pay for her studies. When a learned old scholar comes along, things change and an extraordinary relationship ... more >

Certified Copy

A Cannes Festival 2010 selection film
Juliette Binoche and William Shimell
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami

“Certified Copy” is a film by Abbas Kiarostami which means that it’s s-l-o-w. Slow enough to make you fidget in your seat. Slow enough to take you back to the days of the interminable scenes of couples-- walking apart from each other and not talking—in those excruciating Antonioni films of the sixties. Slow enough to give you time to wonder about the nature of cinema. Should it be entertaining? ... more >

Certified Copy

A favorite this year in Cannes
Juliette Binoche and William Shimmell
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami

“Copie Conforme” is a film by Abbas Kiarostami which means that it’s s-l-o-w. Slow enough to make you fidget in your seat. Slow enough to take you back to the days of the interminable scenes of couples-- walking apart from each other and not talking—in those excruciating Antonioni films of the sixties. Slow enough to give you time to wonder about the nature of cinema. Should it be entertaining? ... more >

Abbas Kiarostami

Iranian filmmaker subject of a MOMA retrospective

Tomorrow will be the start of the Abbas Kiarostami retrospective at the MOMA here in New York City. Even those cinephiles who have little familiarity with Persian cinema can probably remember Kiarostami's A Taste of Cherry (1997), which marked the onset of a new vogue in foreign cinema; not only was Iranian cinema fast becoming hip, it eroded the prejudices Westerners might have held regarding the ... more >