Abbas Kiarostami was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including shorts and documentaries. Kiarostami attained critical acclaim for directing the Koker trilogy (1987–1994), Close-Up (1990), The Wind Will Carry Us (1999), and Taste of Cherry (1997), which was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year. In later works, Certified Copy (2010) and Like Someone in Love (2012), he filmed for the first time outside Iran: in Italy and Japan, respectively. His films Where Is the Friend's Home? (1987), Close-Up, and The Wind Will Carry Us were ranked among the 100 best foreign films in a 2018 critics' poll by BBC Culture. Close-Up was also ranked one of the 50 greatest movies of all time in the famous decennial Sight & Sound poll conducted in 2012.
Kiarostami in 2013
Kiarostami majored in painting and graphic design at the University of Tehran College of Fine arts.
Kiarostami in 1977
Kiarostami directing a film
1997 Cannes Film Festival
The 50th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 May 1997. The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to Ta'm e guilass by Abbas Kiarostami and Unagi by Shohei Imamura. Jeanne Moreau was the mistress of ceremonies.
Official poster of the 50th Cannes Film Festival
1997 Un Certain Regard poster, adapted from an original illustration by Milo Manara.
Isabelle Adjani, Jury President
Abbas Kiarostami, Palme d'Or winner