By FilmInk Staff
“Abbas’ approach is that of a poet,” filmmaker, Victor Erice (1973’s The Spirit Of The Beehive), once told FilmInk of his friend and occasional collaborator, Abbas Kiarostami. “Not only in writing verse, but also in making movies, taking pictures, or creating video installations.” Abbas Kiarostami is a legend of the Iranian new wave. Highly acclaimed, all of his films – Close-Up, The Wind Will Carry Us, Safar, Tickets, Ten – boast a fine balance of lyricism and understated but telling insight into human nature. Kiarostami’s most famous work, Taste Of Cherry, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1998, and established him as a vital voice from a land not often heard on the world stage. His ability to find the resonant human core of simple stories marked him as both a great artist and an empathetic storyteller. When he passed away in 2016, contemporary cinema lost one of its most vital and compelling voices.
Abbas Kiarostami will be spotlighted at this year’s Sydney Film Festival and at ACMI in Melbourne with a special programme of some of his best films. “Abbas Kiarostami is widely recognised as one of the most influential figures in contemporary film, with his distinct style serving as an early entry point for audiences across the globe to experience the vibrant world of Iranian cinema,” says Sydney Film Festival director Nashen Moodley. “Known for his deeply humanist and formally inventive approach to filmmaking, this retrospective will showcase the diverse body of work produced during Kiarostami’s illustrious forty plus year career. This is a wonderful opportunity for seasoned cinephiles and new audiences alike to celebrate the legacy of one of cinema’s truest auteurs.”
Selections include 1974’s The Traveler, Kiarostami’s debut feature about a headstrong boy who embarks on a series of deceptions to travel to a sporting match in Tehran; 1987’s Where Is The Friend’s House?, a poetic tale about a young boy who must return a classmate’s schoolbook; 1992’s And Life Goes On, a self-reflexive mediation on identity set amidst the aftermath of the 1990 earthquake that devastated northern Iran; 1994’s Through Olive Trees, a wildly meta examination of class and romance; Close-Up, a sophisticated blend of documentary and fiction that takes a bizarre crime and artfully reworks it for the big screen; and Taste Of Cherry, which features one of cinema’s most daring endings and became the first Iranian film to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes. There are also more recent career highlights including The Wind Will Carry Us, a gently comic fable on the unpredictability of life; and Ten, an illuminating and experimental piece focusing on the lives of contemporary Iranian women. The program also features Kiarostami’s masterful short films Bread And Alley, Orderly Or Disorderly and Solution.
For all information on The Sydney Film Festival, head to the official website. For all information on ACMI, head to the official website.
