Photo Credit: Gelareh Kiazand
The most acclaimed and influential of Iran’s major filmmakers, Abbas Kiarostami, was born n Tehran on June 22, 1940. Raised in a middle-class household, he was interested in art and literature from an early age. During and after university, where he majored in painting and graphic design, he illustrated children’s books, designed credit sequences for films, and made numerous television commercials. in 1969, he was invited to start a filmmaking division for the government-run Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (an organization Iranians call Kanoon). The ten-minute Bread and Alley (1970) was the first of several short films, most centered on children, that he directed over the next two decades, a period during which he also made documentaries, including the feature-length First Graders (1984) and Homework (1989), both of which take up the subject of education. His first narrative feature, The Traveler (1974), about a provincial boy scheming to reach Tehran to see a soccer match, was made under Kanoon’s auspices, while his second, The Report (1977), an autobiographically tinged story of a collapsing marriage, was made independently.
It was after Iran’s 1979 revolution that Kiarostami began his rapid ascent to international renown. Where Is My Friend’s House? (1987), about a rural boy’s effort to return a pal’s notebook, won the Bronze Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival. Close-up (1990), about the trial of a man accused of impersonating a famous filmmaker, was the director’s first film to focus on cinema itself, and the blur the lines between documentary and fiction; it has been voted the best Iranian film ever made by Iranian and international critics. In And Life Goes On (a.k.a. Life and Nothing More…, 1992), he dramatized a journey he made into an earthquake’s devastation zone to discover if the child actors of Where Is My Friend’s House? has survived. Those two films and Through the Olive Trees (1994), which dramatized the making of And Life Goes On, have been dubbed the “Koker” trilogy by critics after the name of the village where much of their action was filmed.
After And Life Goes On and through the Olive Trees earned Kiarostami wide acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival, his next film, Taste of Cherry (1997), became the first – and so far, only – Iranian film to win the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or. Telling of a man’s attempt to gain assistance in committing suicide, a taboo under Islam, the film was one of several by Kiarostami to be banned in Iran while enjoying international success. His final film if thus remarkable period, The Wind Will Carry Us (1999), which concerns a camera crew on an enigmatic assignment in Kurdistan, won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
In the new century, Kiarostami broadened his creative focus, devoting more time to forms including photography, installation art, poetry, and teaching. In cinema, he embraced low-budget digital filmmaking for the feature Ten (2002), the documentaries ABC Africa (2001) and 10 on Ten (2004), the experimental films Five (2003) and Shirin (2008), and several shorts. Beginning at the decade’s end, he went abroad to make two dramatic features, both centering on male-female relations: Certified Copy (2010), starring Juliette Binoche, in Italy, and Like Someone in Love (2012) in Japan. At the time of his death, he was preparing a movie to be made in China.
In March 2016, while he was in the midst of working on 24 Frames, Kiarostami was hospitalized and underwent several operations. He was transferred to Paris in late June of the same year, and died there on July 4th. Charges have been made that his death was caused by medical malpractice by doctors in Iran. He is buried in Lavasan (a small city near Tehran). Posthumously completed, 24 Frames premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2017.
(source: Janus Films / Criterion Collection)

1970 | Jury Special Award for The Bread and Alley at the 5th Tehran International Festival of Films for Children and Young Adults, Iran |
1974 | First Prize in Narrative Category for The Experience at the 4th Giffoni International Film Festival, Italy |
1974 | Jury’s Grand Prize for The Traveler at the 9th Tehran International Festival of Films for Children and Young Adults, Iran |
1974 | National TV Prize for The Traveler at the 9th Tehran International Festival of Films for Children and Young Adults, Iran |
1976 | First Prize for Two Solutions for One Problem at the International Educational Festival of Mexico |
1976 | Special Diploma of Critics for A Wedding Suit at the 11th Tehran International Festival of Films for the Children and Young Adults, Iran |
1976 | Iran National TV Prize for A Wedding Suit at the 11th Tehran International Festival of Films for the Children and Young Adults, Iran |
1977 | Diploma of Honor for A Wedding Suit at the 10th Moscow International Film Festival, Soviet Union |
1979 | Best Film Award for Case No. 1, Case No. 2 at the Iranian Festival of Films for Children and Young Adults |
1984 | Golden Plaque of Best Short Film for The Chorus at the 2nd Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran |
1986 | Jury Special Award for First Graders at the 4th Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran |
1987 | Golden Plaque of Best Director for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at the 5th Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran |
1987 | Jury Special Award for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at the 5th Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran |
1987 | Crystal Simorgh for Best Sound Recorders for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at the 5th Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran |
1989 | Bronze Leopard for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at the 42nd Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland |
1989 | FIPRESCI Special Mention for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at the 42nd Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland |
1989 | Prize of International Confederation of Art Cinemas for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at the 42nd Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland |
1989 | Barclay Jury Prize for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at the 42nd Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland |
1989 | Ecumenical Jury’s Special Mention for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at the 42nd Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland |
1989 | Prize of International Confederation of Art Cinemas for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at RCC, France |
1990 | Jury Special Prize for Close-Up at the 8th Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran |
1990 | Best Film Award for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at the International Film Festival of the Royal Film Archive of Belgium |
1990 | Silver R for Close-Up at the 3rd Rimini International Film Festival, Italy |
1990 | Prize of Quebec Critics Association for Close-Up at the 19th Montreal International Festival of New Cinema & Video, Canada |
1991 | Prize of Best Director for Close-Up at the 5th Dunkerque International Film Festival, France |
1991 | Press Prize for Close-Up at the 5th Dunkerque International Film Festival, France |
1991 | Prize of the City of Dunkerque for Close-Up at the 5th Dunkerque International Film Festival, France |
1991 | Film Students Prize for Close-Up at the 5th Dunkerque International Film Festival, France |
1992 | CINEKID Award for Where is the Friend’s House? at the 5th Cinekid International Children Film Festival of Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
1992 | FIPRESCI Prize for Close-Up at the 11th Istanbul International Film Festival, Turkey |
1992 | Best Film Award of Un Certain Regard for Life and Nothing More… at the 45th Cannes International Film Festival. France |
1992 | Prix Roberto Rossellini Award for the Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami at the 45th Cannes International Film Festival, France |
1992 | Prix Cine Decouvertes for Life and Nothing More… from the Association of Belgian Film Distributors |
1993 | François Truffaut Award for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami at the 23rd Giffoni International Film Festival, Italy |
1993 | Prize of City of Rimini for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami at the 6th Rimini International Film Festival, Italy |
1993 | Special award of the festival for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami at the 6th Rimini International Film Festival, Italy |
1993 | Special Award of Critics for Life and Nothing More… at the 17th São Paulo International Film Festival, Brazil |
1993 | Golden Spike for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami at the 38th Valladolid International Film Festival, Spain |
1994 | Silver Hugo for Through the Olive Trees at the 30th Chicago International Film festival, USA |
1994 | Golden Spike for Through the Olive Trees at the 39th Valladolid International Film Festival, Spain |
1994 | Special award of Critics for Through the Olive Trees at the 18th São Paulo International Film Festival, Brazil |
1995 | Golden Rose Award of Best Film for Through the Olive Trees at the 13th Bergamo Film Meeting, Italy |
1995 | Award of Best Director for Through the Olive Trees at the 8th Singapore International Film Festival |
1995 | Best Film Award for Where Is the Friend’s Home? at the Rome Summer Film Festival, Italy |
1995 | The Third Best Audience Film Prize for Through the Olive Trees at the 44th Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia |
1995 | Lifetime Achievement Award, Festa del Cinema, Rome, Italy |
1995 | Pier Paolo Pasolini Award for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami from Pier Paolo Pasolini Foundation, Rome |
1996 | Director of the Year, the Variety International Film Guide |
1996 | Officier de la Légion d’honneur from Ministry of Culture and Art of France |
1997 | Palme d’Or for Best Film for Taste of Cherry at the 50th Cannes International Film Festival, France |
1997 | Honorary Award, the first Iranian Cinema Celebration, Tehran, Iran |
1997 | Palme d’Or for Best Film for Taste of Cherry at the 50th Cannes International Film Festival, France |
1997 | Special award of Feast of Cinema for Abbas Kiarostami at the 2nd Feast of Cinema, Tehran |
1997 | Special Prize of Festival for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami at the 27th Giffoni International Film Festival, Italy |
1997 | Vittorio De Sica Memorial Award for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami from Vittorio De Sica Foundation, Italy |
1997 | Federico Fellini Gold Medal (UNESCO Special award for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami from UNESCO, France) |
1997 | Taste of Cherry selected as the Best Film of the Year by Time magazine |
1998 | Taste of Cherry selected as the Best Foreign Film of the Year by the National Society of Film Critics, USA |
1998 | Taste of Cherry selected as the Best Foreign Film of the Year by Society of Film Critics of Boston, USA |
1999 | Special Prize of Masters for Abbas Kiarostami at the 18th Istanbul International Film Festival, Turkey |
1999 | Jury Special Prize for The Wind Will Carry Us at the 56th Venice International Film Festival, Italy |
1999 | FIPRESCI Award for The Wind Will Carry Us at the 56th Venice International Film Festival, Italy |
1999 | The Youth Prize of Future Cinema for The Wind Will Carry Us at the 56th Venice International Film Festival, Italy |
1999 | Golden Plaque of Panorama of European Cinema for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami, Athens, Greece |
1999 | Audience Award, 28th Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Canada |
1999 | Honorary Golden Alexander Prize for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami at the 40th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Greece |
1999 | Special Prize for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami at the 21st Montpellier International Mediterranean Film Festival, France |
1999 | Selected as the Most Outstanding Filmmaker of ’90s at the Polling of Cinematheque Ontario, Canada 2000 |
2000 | The Best Filmmaker of ’90s, Film Comment Poll, USA |
1378 | Selection of And Life Goes On… as the 2nd, Under The Olive Trees as the 3rd, Close Up as the 5th, and Taste of Cherry as the 9th Best Films of the 1990s by Cinematheque Ontario |
2000 | Honorary Prize of the 18th Fajr International Film festival for Film Career of Abbas Kiarostami, Tehran, Iran |
2000 | The Golden Dolphin of Kish Island for Lifetime Achievement in Cinema, Iran |
2000 | Plaque of First Human Rights Declaration of the University of California at Berkeley, USA |
2000 | Akira Kurosawa Honorary Award of the 43rd San Francisco International Film Festival, USA |
2000 | Special Plaque of Lebanese Ministry of Culture and Art, Lebanon |
2000 | Lifetime Achievement Award for Abbas Kiarostami at the 3rd Beirut Film Festival, Lebanon |
2000 | Poetic Cinema Award of Recanati, Italy |
2000 | A Glance at the World Cinema’s The first prize of the 7th International Belgrade Film Festival for The Wind Will Carry US, Yugoslavia |
2001 | Lifetime Achievement Award for Abbas Kiarostami at the 25th Cairo Film Festival, Egypt |
2001 | Special Award, 12th Damascus International Film Festival |
2003 | Honorary doctorate, École Normale Supérieure, France |
2003 | The Konrad Wolf Prize, The Academy of Arts, Berlin, Germany |
2004 | Praemium Imperiale Prize in Film and Theater, Japan |
2005 | Gold Leopard of Honor, Locarno film festival |
2005 | Lifetime Achievement Award, 2nd Reykjavík Film Festival, Iceland |
2005 | Fellowship of the British Film Institute |
2005 | Marrakech Film Festival’s Honorary Award |
2006 | Prix Henri-Langlois Prize, France |
2006 | Honorary Prize, 16th Films From the South Festival, Oslo, Norway |
2007 | World’s Great Masters, Kolkata International Film Festival |
2008 | Glory to the Filmmaker Award, Venice Film Festival |
2008 | Jaam-e Jahan-Nama (Cup of Jamshid) Award from Iranian Short Film Association, Tehran, Iran |
2010 | The Best Actress Award for Juliette Binoche, Cannes Film Festival, France |
2010 | Espiga de Oro Largometraje for Certified Copy, Valladolid International Film Festival, Seminci, Spain |
2010 | CineMerit Award, Munich Film Festival |
2010 | Lifetime Achievement Awar, 5th Batumi Film Festival, Georgia |
2011 | San Francisco Film Critics Circle’s Best Foreign Language Film for Certified Copy |
2012 | Selection of Close-Up as the 42nd Film, The Sight & Sound Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time |
2013 | The Order of the Rising Sun (Kyokujitsu Shoujusho), Gold Rays with Rosette, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan |
2014 | Lifetime Achievement Prize in Art, 51st International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, Turkey |
2014 | Austrian Decoration for Science and Art, Republic of Austria |
2016 | Tomas Gutierrez Alea International Film Award by the Association of Cuban Writers, Havana, Cuba |
2016 | Selection of Certified Copy as the 45th film, and 10 as the 97th film, BBC Culture’s The 21st Century’s 100 Greatest Films |
2016 | Asian Filmmaker of the Year, Busan International Film Festival, South Korea |
2017 | Jean Renoir Award, the Writers Guild of America |
2017 | the Writers Guild of America, West’s 2017 Jean Renoir Award for International Screenwriting Achievement |
2018 | Special Prize, 14th Eurasia Film Festival, Kazakhstan |
2018 | Selection of Close-Up as the 39th film, Where Is My Friend’s House? as the 94th film, and Taste of Cherry as the 97th Film BBC Culture’s The 100 Greatest Foreign-language Films |
1995 | Pinacoteca Casa Rusca, Locarno |
1996 | Reale Albergo dei Poveri, Palerme |
2000 | Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York |
Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa, Venise | |
2001 | Teatro Calderon, Valladolid |
2003 | Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Turin |
Mitsokushi Gallery, Tokyo et Nagoya | |
2004 | Praemium Imperiale Medal, Sakakura Junzo Memorial, Gallery Saka, Tokyo |
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran | |
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes | |
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessalonique | |
Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation, Sao Paulo | |
Castel dell’Ovo, Naples | |
Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, Lisbonne | |
Hakone Museum of Arts, Hakone | |
2005 | Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
Palazzo d’Accursio, Sala d’Ercole, Bologna | |
Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul | |
Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade | |
2006 | Akbank Sanat, Istanbul |
Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou | |
Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai | |
Stenersenmuseet, Oslo | |
Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires | |
2007 | The Museum of Modern Art, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre, New York |
University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley | |
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles | |
2008 | Santa Maria della Scala, Sienne |
CIOCCA, Milan | |
Musée des Tapisseries, Aix-en-Provence | |
Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, Florida | |
Beijing Art Museum of the Imperial City, Pékin | |
2009 | Meem Gallery, Dubai |
2010 | Galerie de France, Paris |
2012 | Situation Kunst, Kunstammlungen der Ruhr – Université de Bochum |
Galerie Lucy Mackintosh, Lausanne | |
2013 | Museum Wiesbaden |
Kunstammlungen Chemnitz | |
2015 | Aga Khan Museum, Toronto |
2016 | CerModern, Ankara |