Abbas Kiarostami (1940-2016), the acclaimed Iranian filmmaker, was a master of cinematic minimalism who famously used cars to bypass Iranian censorship, often filming in them to create private spaces in public (according to the Encyclopaedia Iranica).
During a career spanning four decades he would work with famous stars Juliette Binoche, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Isabelle Adjani, Anouk Aimee, Jean-Claude Carriere and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, along with many well known Iranian actors.
Known for his dark glasses, which he wore due to a sensitivity to light, he also had a habit of avoiding the standard “reverse shot” convention in film, refusing to show the face of the person speaking to the main character, and instead keeping the focus on the listener in a style is best described as poetic and minimalist.
After studying Fine Arts at Tehran University, Kiarostami began his career in the 1960s as a graphic designer and illustrator and this led to a prolific number of television commercials – he made over 150 in ‘60s alone – eventually moving on to filmmaking by creating title sequences, notably for Qeysar in 1969. He would direct his first film, a short entitled The Bread and Alley the following year. Featuring a kid, a dog and a crew of newbies this kicked off his interest in naturalistic storytelling and child-centric filmmaking, leading him to establish the Kanoon Centre for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults . His first feature was The Traveller in 1974.
A prolific career saw him involved in the production of over forty films, shorts, dramas and documentaries. Best known are arguably Where Is the Friend’s House (1987), Life, and Nothing More (1992) Through the Olive Trees (1994), his Binoche starrer Certified Copy (2010), and his final feature 24 Frames (2017).
International acclaim came when he started to make films outside Iran. In Italy for Certified Copy, and Like Someone in Love which took him to Tokyo.
Under the patronage of the Kiarostami Foundation
THE FILMS
Khane-ye doust kodjast? (Where Is the Friend’s House?, 1987)
Nema-ye nazdik (Close Up, 1990)
Zendegi va digar hich (And Life Goes On, 1992)
Zire darakhatan zeyton (Through the Olive Trees, 1994)
Ta’m e guilass (Taste of Cherry, 1997)
Bad ma ra khahad bord (The Wind Will Carry Us, 1999)
Dah (Ten, 2002)
Five Dedicated to Ozu (2003)
ABBAS KIAROSTAMI RETROSPECTIVE | BERGAMO FILM MEETING 2026