Beirut Int’l Film Festival honors Abbas Kiarostami

The 20th edition of the Beirut International Film Festival (BIFF) has commemorated the late-great Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami by screening his films.

Starting to screen Kiarostami’s works from October 5, the festival has set to screen his ’24 Frames’, ‘The Wind Will Carry Us’, ‘Through the Olive Trees’, ‘Take Me Home’, ‘The Traveler’, ‘A Taste of Cherry’, ‘Where is My Friend’s Home?’.

The BIFF also has scheduled to screen ‘76 Minutes and 15 Seconds with Abbas Kiarostami’ directed by his close friend Seifollah Samadian on October 7 and 9.

Kiarostami’s son Ahmad, Iranian actor Homayun Ershadi and sound editor Ensieh Maleki are in Beirut to take part at the event.

Kiarostami’s last film ‘Like Someone in Love’ (2012), a romantic drama set in Japan, was nominated for a Palme d’Or at Cannes.

The late writer-director has been widely hailed as a pioneer of the Iranian New Wave.

Kiarostami has won many awards including the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Festival in 1997 for his film ‘Taste of Cherry’.

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 veteran Iranian filmmaker who passed away on July 4, 2016, following a heart attack at the age of 76, was also honored at this year’s Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles.

Launched in 1997, the 20th edition of the BIFF is slated for October 4-12, 2017 at Beirut’s Metropolis Empire Sofil, Sursock Museum and Cinéma Montaigne.

MG/MF