Abbas Kiarostami, Palme d'Or-winning Iranian film-maker, dies aged 76
Baku, July 5, AZERTAC
Abbas Kiarostami, the multi-award-winning Iranian director whose 1997 film Taste of Cherry was awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival, has died aged 76, according to The Guardian.
Latterly, Kiarostami found it increasingly difficult to film in Iran, as political strife grew in the wake of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s rise to power. His next two films, Certified Copy and Like Someone in Love were filmed abroad, in Italy and Japan respectively, even if they dealt in Kiarostami’s familiar themes of authenticity and relationships. Both were screened at Cannes, and the former won the festival’s best actress award for Juliette Binoche.
Last week, Kiarostami was among 683 film-makers asked to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; many commented on the belated nature of the invite. In 2003, The Guardian ranked him the sixth best working director.
Kiarostami was married once, in 1969, to Parvin Amir-Gholi, but they divorced in 1982. They had two sons together: Ahmad (a mulitmedia publisher) and Bahman (a documentary-maker).
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