Late Abbas Kiarostami recognised at Busan

Late Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami has been selected for The Asian Filmmaker of the Year (2016) Award by the Busan International Film Festival of South Korea.

The award will be given to Ahmad Kiarostami, son of the director, at the opening ceremony of BIFF to be held from October 6-16 this year.

The Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award is awarded to Asian cineastes or organisations that have made the most outstanding contribution to the evolution of  the Asian film industry and culture, an announcement by the Festival organisers said.

Kiarostami, who died on July 4 this year at the age of 76, was one of the most influential directors in the world and debuted as a filmmaker with his short film The Bread and Alley (1970).

He was invited to the 2nd Busan International Film Festival with his work, The Taste of Cherry (1997). He participated in the festival as the head of the New Currents jurors in 2005 and as Dean of Asian Film Academy (AFA) in BIFF 2010. Revealing his special support and affection for Asian film students, the late director Abbas Kiarostami also participated in a workshop, “Kiarostami's Film School”, held by the Busan Cinema Centre in 2012.

Busan International Film Festival 2016 will introduce his major works by screening nine films directed by him.  Additionally, a special forum will be held during BIFF 2016. An in-depth discourse about the Kiarostami's cinematic world will also be held during the “Asian Writer Research Forum” hosted by BIFF and Pusan National University's film institute.

Born in 1940 in Tehran,  Abbas Kiarostami majored in Art at university and worked in visual graphics, including title design and film advertising. He made his first short film,The Bread and Alley (1970) and in 1974, he made his first feature film The Traveller (1974). In 1997, he was awarded the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival and became an internationally-acclaimed filmmaker.

Among the works of Abbas Kiarostami are Where Is The Friend's Home? (1987), Close Up (1990), And Life Goes On… (1991), The Wind Will Carry Us (1990), Shirin (2008), Cert ified Copy (2010) and Like Someone in Love (2012).