Happy Birthday, Abbas Kiarostami! Born today in 1940, this Iranian screenwriter, film producer and film director had been an active filmmaker since 1970. He had been involved in the production of over forty films, including shorts and documentaries.
Kiarostami had also worked extensively as a graphic designer, illustrator, poet, painter, photographer, art director and film editor, and had designed credit titles and publicity material.
Kiarostami was part of a generation of filmmakers in the Iranian New Wave; a person cinema movement that started in the late 1960s.
It includes Bahram Beyzai, Nasser Taghvai, Ali Hatami, Masoud Kimiai, Sohrab Shahid-Saless and Parviz Kimiavi.
Most notably, it includes pioneering directors such as Iranian director, screenwriter, producer and film editor Dariush Marhjui ('Gaav') [('The Cow')]. Critics widely consider it to be the first film of the Iranian New Wave.
These filmmakers share many common techniques including the use of poetic dialogue and allegorical storytelling dealing with political and philosophical issues.
After the start of the Iranian New Wave, Kiarostami helped set up a filmmaking department at the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (Kanun) in Tehran.
Its debut production, and Kiarostami's first film, was the neo-realistic ten-minute 1970 Iranian black and white drama/short film ‘Nān o Kūcheh’ (‘The Bread and Alley’). It tells about a schoolboy's confrontation with an aggressive dog.
In the late 1980s, Kiarostami is known for directing the 1987 Iranian drama/family film 'Khane-ye dust kojast' ('Where Is the Friend's Home?'),
Among his credits in the early 1990s, Kiarostami is best known for editing, writing and directing the 1990 Iranian docufiction/drama film 'Klūzāp, nemā-ye nazdīk' ('Close-Up').
While reading a novel by Iranian film director, writer, film editor, and producer Mohsen Makhmalbaf ('Gabbeh', 'Kandahar') on the bus, Hossain Sabzian strikes up a conversation with a pretty girl, Mahrokh Ahankhah.
When she tells him that her family admires Makhmalbaf's work, Hossain pretends to be the filmmaker to impress her.
Becoming friendly with the Ahankhahs, Hossain tells them the he is preparing a new film. However, when they uncover his true identity, he is arrested for fraud.
'Close-Up' reenacts the true story of the incident, with Hossain and the family playing themselves. A film about human identity, it helped to increase recognition of Kiarostami internationally.
Also in the early 1990s, Kiarostami is also known for directing 1992 Iranian drama/adventure film 'Zendegi va digar hich ('And Life Goes On...', also called Life, And Nothing More...')
Another film of which Kiarostami is best known for editing, writing, producing and directing in the early 1990s is the 1994 Iranian film 'Zīr-e Derakhtān-e Zeytūn' ('Through the Olive Trees', actually meaning 'Under the Olive Trees').
The film tells of an Iranian director (Mohammad Ali Keshavarz), who acts as go-between when his lead actors Hossein (Hossein Rezai) and Tahereh (Tahereh Ladanian). The two won't work together because of cultural differences.
An ineffably lovely, gentle human comedy steeped in the folkways of Iranian village life, 'Through the Olive Trees' peels away layer after layer of artifice as it investigates the elusive, alchemical relationship between cinema and reality.
The film is shot in a naturalistic way; a complex study of the link between art and life, its narrative often blurs the boundaries between fiction and reality. Many have since declared the film a masterpiece.
The following year, 'Through the Olive Tress' was selected as the Iranian entry for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee. This occurred at the 67th Academy Awards in late March 1995.
Later that same year, Kiarostami wrote the screenplay for Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film editor Jafar Panahi's feature-film debut. This was the 1995 Iranian drama/family film 'Badkonake sefid' ('The White Balloon').
In the late 1990s, Kiarostami is best known for editing, writing, producing and directing the 1997 Iranian drama film 'Ta’m-e gīlās' ('Taste of Cherry').
The film follows a middle-aged Tehranian man, Mr. Badii (Homayoun Ershadi). He is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise.
Driving around the desert, the seemingly well-to-do Badii meets with numerous people, including a Muslim seminarian (Mir Hossein Noori), asking them to take on the job, but initially he has little luck.
Eventually, Badii finds a man who is up for the task because he needs the money, but his new associate soon tries to talk him out of committing suicide.
The film premiered at the 50th Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Palme d'Or.
The award was also shared with Japanese film director Shohei Imamura's ('The Ballad of Narayama') 1997 Japanese drama film 'Ungai' ('The Eel').
Another film of which Kiarostami is best known for editing, writing, producing and directing in the late 1990s is the Iranian 1999 Iranian drama film 'Bād mā rā khāhad bord' ('The Wind Will Carry Us').
The film tells of a group of people from the city who arrive in a little village with a different kind of mission.
They each pretend to be communications engineers, but they are waiting the death of woman who is over one hundred. The leader of the group and a young boy from the village become friends.
The film also explores cultural differences between a man from the city and from a village.
'The Wind Will Cary Us' premiered at the 56th Venice Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion.
Instead, it won the Grand Special Jury Prize (Silver Lion), the FIPRESCI Prize, and the CinemAvvenire award. It later received numerous other nominations and awards as well.
In the 2010s, Kiarostami is known for directing the 2010 French/Italian/Belgian/Iranian/ drama/romance film 'Certified Copy'. It stars French actress, artist, and dancer Juliette Binoche.
Kiarostami had a reputation for using child protagonists, for documentary-style narrative films, for stories that take place in rural villages, and for conversations that unfold inside cars, using stationary mounted cameras.
He is also known for his use of Persian poetry in the dialogue, titles, and themes of his films.
The trademarks in Kiarostami's films contain a notable degree of ambiguity, an unusual mixture of simplicity and complexity, and often a mix of fictional and documentary elements.
The concepts of change and continuity, in addition to the themes of life and death, also play a major role in Kiarostami's works.
In 2012, 'Close-Up' was also ranked one of "The 50 Greatest Films of All Time" in the famous decennial Sight & Sound poll.
Kiarostami had been active from 1962–2016.
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