London centre reviewing Kiarostami films

London’s Close-Up Film Centre has been reviewing the films made by late great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami during six programs.

The center started its first reviewing program by screening his infrequently seen films made in the 1970s and 1980s for the Institute of Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) on June 5.

The first program titled ‘Beginnings and Journeys’ has been dedicated to review ‘The Traveler’, ‘Bread and Alley’ and ‘Breaktime’.

The organizers granted the second program to ‘The Report’ which is one of his most significant and compelling dramas made in 1977 about marriage.

Spotlighting Kiarostami’s image on adolescence and poverty, the third program has been set to screen ‘The Experience’ and ‘A Suit for the Wedding’.

‘Homework’, ‘Two Solutions for One Problem’, ‘Colors’, ‘So I Can’ and ‘Orderly or Disorderly’ are his movies about school issues which will be reviewed at the fourth program.

The fifth program will contain a slight political theme to review ‘First Graders’, ‘Solution No. 1’ and ‘The Chorus’.

The concluding program of the center will focus on Kiarostami’s ‘Take Me Home’ in which he takes the camera to the south of Italy to show a beautiful and playful video of alleys and stairs, and ‘76 Minutes and 15 Seconds with Abbas Kiarostami’ which is a montage film made by his close friend Seifollah Samadian.

The programs will come to end on June 19.

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 and have paid homage to Kiarostami by presenting retrospectives of his work.

MG/MMF