It was his film, Taste of Cherry, winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Fest in 1997 that introduced poetic, meta-fiction laiden Iraninan cinema to the world and put many Kiarostami contemporaries (Jafar Panahi, Asghar Farhadi, Moshen makhmalbaf) on the world cinema map.
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Kiarostami, who had been suffering repercussions due to several operations he had undergone for his illness, left Iran last week to receive additional treatment at a hospital in Paris. The Iranian director, writer, photographer and producer has made over 40 films since 1970, including shorts, documentaries and features. His 1997 masterpiece Taste of Cherry won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
Kiarostami is survived by his two sons, Ahmad and Bahman.
Iranian Culture Minister Ali Jannati also expressed his condolences over Kiarostami’s demise, saying he gave a new meaning to cinema by creating innovative, exquisite and modern works.
He’s also noted for his Koker trilogy, released between 1987 and 1994, 1990’s Close-Up, and 1999’s The Wind Will Carry Us, which won the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.
Veteran New York Times film critic A. O. Scott described Kiarostami in a 2003 review as “perhaps the most internationally admired Iranian filmmaker of the past decade”.
But unlike many of his artistic peers in Iran, Kiarostami chose to remain in the country following its drastic shift in governance and accepted social mores.
Fellow Iranian director Asghar Farhadi – the Oscar victor of A Separation – recalls to The Guardian, “He wasn’t just a film-maker”. His global reputation was cemented by what is now referred to as the Koker Trilogy, a series of films tied together by their shared location – “Where Is the Friend’s Home?“.
He noted that Kiarostami’s success empowered many generations of Iranian filmmakers and added, “He definitely paved ways for others and influenced a great many people”.
In his late years, Kiarostami started to travel the world, making “Certified Copy” in Italy and “Like Someone in Love” in Japan.
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Kiarostami was not only a film director, but a renowned poet as well.
