Kiarostami’s ‘24 Frames’ to end Hong Kong film festival

The 2017 edition of the Summer International Film Festival (Summer IFF) in Hong Kong has been scheduled to come to an end after screening ‘24 Frames’ by late great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.

To be wrapped up on August 29, the Summer IFF organizers have selected Kiarostami’s last experimental movie for the event’s conclusion.

The film is a compilation project he completed before his passing.

Kiarostami’s ‘24 Frames’ is a response to the paintings and photographs that inspired him, prompted by the desire to hold the frame steady so as to watch each image come to life, each drama play on.

It is austerely experimental and demands tolerance as well as engagement to grab something rich and strange in the man’s unconscious mind.

Audaciously, posthumously, the director has even found a way to make a bonus of his hated cinema seats. Kiarostami has gone, but the work lives on.

Kiarostami was a multitalented artist and an exceptional man who joyfully embraced life. He was winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Festival in 1997 for his film ‘Taste of Cherry’, passing away on July 4, 2016.

He is mostly known as a screenwriter, film editor, art director and producer as well as a poet, photographer, painter, illustrator and graphic designer.

The cinematic works by the internationally acclaimed filmmaker have been hailed by various festivals around the world.

Several prestigious festivals and film events have already honored the noted Iranian director as well as paying homage to Kiarostami by presenting retrospectives of his works.

Some 40 new and classic films from several countries will go on the Summer IFF’s screen.

As one of the oldest film festivals in Asia, the global reputation of the Hong Kong International Film Festival was built on the pioneering work of programming Asian films and its retrospectives when Asian and Hong Kong cinema were not well known to the international community.

The Summer IFF 2017 is slated for August 15-29 at various venues in Hong Kong.

MG/MG