Tehran: Eminent Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, 76, breathed
his last on Monday in Paris. Kiarostami was
suffering from cancer and went to Paris for treatment. He had similar surgery
earlier this year in Iran.
Following the announcement of Kiarostami’s death, tributes
and homage across the world started flooding social media platforms acclaiming
the ‘towering figure’ of world cinema. Kiarostami has won the prestigious Palme
d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Taste
of Cherry in 1997. He was the only
Iranian filmmaker to achieve the award.
Taste of Cherry told
the story of a man who is looking for a person to bury his body after he killed
himself. The film was banned in Iran citing reasons that can encourage suicidal
attempts. However, Kiarostami said that Taste
of Cherry is the only film that reminds him of a period he do not want to
think about and had never watched.
A prominent filmmaker, who worked despite of government
resistance, was linked to the Iranian New Wave of the late 1960s. He
is also termed as one of the world’s most revered directors.
Abbas Kiarostami was born in June 1940 and has started his
career in directing films in late 1960s. His film career spanned for 40 long
years when he wrote and directed dozens of films and documentaries. French-Swiss
director Jean-Luc Godard once said describing his influences in world cinema
that, “Film begins with DW Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami.” Kiarostami
was survived by his two sons- Ahmad and Bahman.
Apart from Taste Of
Cherry in 1997, Kiarostami’s important works include- Close Up (1990), Where Is The
Friend’s Home (1987), The Wind Will
Carry Us (2000) and Ten (2002). He
was forced to make few of his film outside Iran due to Government resistance.
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