Iranian trailblasing filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami passed away at the age of 76. He was a pioneer who put Iran on the map in the world of film. The impact of his art is tremendous. Among his admirers were Kurosawa, Godard and Scorsese. And yet, it is only by accident that he began to make films.
Kiarostami left home at 18 and started supporting himself by working as a traffic police officer. He was convinced he could become a great painter like van Gogh, since they had the same poverty filled background. However, the teenage traffic police officer failed the art school admission test on his first attempt. It would eventually take him 13 years to complete the four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. The reason it took him so long to graduate was his new job as a commercial artist; he was illustrating books and designing posters. Soon, he started working for a leading advertising agency, where he would make about 150 ads in just eight years. His focus had now shifted from painting to filmmaking.
In 1970, at the age of 30, Kiarostami was offered to start a film department at a government-funded children’s institute called IIDCYA aka Kanun. The idea was to make documentaries and fictions for education. For the next 20 years Abbas Kiarostami would make 19 shorts and documentaries, alongside three feature-length films at Kanun.
Kiarostami received unanimous acclaim for his first feature-length film at Kanun, Where is the Friend’s House? (1987). However, it was with his next film, at the age of 50, that he would finally get the recognition as a master of the art. That film was Close Up (1990), which is considered to be one of the greatest masterpieces of world cinema. Soon after, Kiarostami would leave Kanun to pursue an independent film career. He would continue to make shorts and documentaries, but it is important to note that his work for children is an essential part of his creative output.
Essential educational shorts, short films & documentaries
Educational Shorts: Two Solutions for One Problem (1975); So Can I (1975); Colors (1976); Solution No. 1 (1978); Orderly or Disorderly (1981).
Shorts & Medium-length Films: Bread and Alley (1970); Breaktime (1972); Experience (1973); Traveler (1974); Chorus (1982).
Documentaries: Tribute to Teachers (1977); First Case, Second Case (1979); Fellow Citizen (1983); First Graders (1984); Homework (1989).
Best films of Abbas Kiarostami
With each new film Kiarostami would push the limits of film-art, mostly working with non-professional actors. Here is my ranking of all of his feature-length films except for Report (1977), an independent film made outside of Kanun; this is more of a favorite-list than a critical analysis:
10. Shirin (2008); 9. Ten (2002); 8. Like Someone in Love (2012); 7. Certified Copy (2010); 6. And Life Goes On… (1991); 5. Through the Olive Trees (1994); 4. Wind Will Carry Us (1999); 3. Taste of Cherry (1997); 2. Where Is the Friend's Home? (1987); 1. Close-Up (1990). Kiarostami was an accomplished photographer and held exhibitions all over the world. He called photography the mother of cinema, since every cinema starts with a single photograph, and he considered photography a purer art-form. Among his photography books are Snow White, Trees & Crows, Kiarostami: Images. Kiarostami’s primary source of inspiration was poetry. He edited anthologies, altogether ten-volumes, of his favorite Persian poets: Fire (Rumi), Tears (Saadi), Wine (Hafez), Water (Nima Yushij), and Night (various). He also published three books of his own poetry – Wind and Leaf, Wolf on Watch, With the Wind. We thank Abbas Kiarostami for his art and we are grateful for it. God bless him.“From the injustice of our time, take refuge in poetry. From the harshness of the beloved, take refuge in poetry. From glaring cruelty, take refuge in poetry.”
