Kiarostami, Abbas

born June 22, 1940, Tehrān, Iran

Iranian director.

Kiarostami was hired in 1969 by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults to establish its film division. The institute produced his first film as a director, the lyrical short The Bread and Alley (1970), which featured elements that define his work

improvised performances, documentary textures, and real-life rhythms. His first feature, Mosafer (1974), is a portrait of a troubled adolescent. Where Is the Friend's Home? (1987) gained him international acclaim, and he followed with several masterful films, including Close-up (1990), Through the Olive Trees (1994), The Taste of Cherry (1997), and The Wind Will Carry Us (1999). In the 1980s Kiarostami created documentaries examining the lives of Iranian schoolchildren, and his film ABC Africa (2001) examined the blight of orphans in AIDS-ravaged Africa.

* * *

▪ 1997

      When Badkonake sefid (1995; "The White Balloon"), a deceptively simple look at life in Tehran through the eyes of a seven-year-old girl, won the Camera d'Or for best first film at the 1995 Cannes International Film Festival (the first Iranian film to be so honoured), distributors from around the world hurried to buy it. Critical acclaim, coupled with the attendant publicity as the film opened internationally, brought the name of its screenwriter, Abbas Kiarostami, to prominence in 1996. Kiarostami, a director-writer-producer-editor active in the Iranian film industry since 1969, had long been recognized by cineasts as one of the world's great filmmakers. Known for experimenting with the boundaries between reality and fiction, and for creating a unique brand of neorealist cinematic humanism, Kiarostami had directed 9 features and 16 short films to date and won awards for them at a multitude of international film festivals.

      Kiarostami was born in Tehran in 1940 and studied painting and graphic arts at the University of Tehran. After a period spent designing posters, illustrating children's books, and directing advertisements and film credit sequences, he was hired in 1969 by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults to establish its film division. The institute produced his first film as a director, the lyrical short Nan va kucheh (1970; "Bread and Alley"). It featured elements that would define his later work: improvised performances, documentary textures, real-life rhythms, and social-realist subject matter—all fashioned with an artist's eye. His first feature, Mosafer (1974; "The Traveller"), about a rebellious village boy determined to go to Tehran and watch a soccer match, is an indelible portrait of a troubled adolescent. Kiarostami's documentaries Avaliha (1985; "First Graders") and Mashq-e shab (1989; "Homework") offer fascinating insights into the problems faced by Iranian schoolchildren.

      Kiarostami's favourite film was Namay-e nazdik (1990; "Close-Up"), a complex re-creation of the bizarre circumstances surrounding the case of a frustrated film buff who swindles a Tehran family while impersonating Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. A documentary, it explores the subjective nature of filmed truth and the overlap between film and reality. Kiarostami further expanded the boundaries between documentary and fiction in a loose trilogy: Khaneh-ye dust kojast? (1987; "Where Is the Friend's Home?"), Va zendegi edameh darad (1992; "And Life Goes On. . . ,") and Zir-e darakhtan-e zeyton (1994; "Through the Olive Trees"). In 1996 he was completing a new feature about a middle-aged intellectual who had lost his will to live.

      (ALISSA SIMON)

* * *

▪ Iranian filmmaker

born June 22, 1940, Tehran, Iran

      Iranian director-writer known for experimenting with the boundaries between reality and fiction.

      Kiarostami was hired in 1969 by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults to establish its film division. The institute produced his first film as a director, the lyrical short Nan va kucheh (1970; “Bread and Alley”), which featured elements that would define his later work: improvised performances, documentary textures, and real-life rhythms. His first feature, Mosafer (1974; “The Traveler”), is an indelible portrait of a troubled adolescent. In the 1980s Kiarostami created the documentaries Avaliha (1985; “First Graders”) and Mashq-e shab (1989; “Homework”), both of which offered insight into the lives of Iranian schoolchildren.

      Kiarostami explored the overlap between films and reality through the 1990s in films such as Namay-e nazdik (1990; “Close-Up”), which tells the story of a film buff who swindles a Tehran family. His film Badkonake sefid (1995; “The White Balloon”), a look at life through the eyes of a seven-year-old girl, garnered him international acclaim.

* * *