The confirmations have already started coming in for the 54th edition of the International Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias –FICCI. From March 13 to 19, we will feature a retrospective of and Master Class by one of international cinematography's most renown filmmakers. Abbas Kiarostami belongs to the generation that created the famous New Wave of Iranian cinema during the sixties. His movies are considered artistic and innovative with highly philosophical and political content, some of them using realism, others, metaphors.
Awarded over 30 international awards, this master od conceptual movies and first Iranian director to win the Golden Palm in Cannes in 2007, is one of the world's most respected directors. With over 70 films under his belt, he is not only a director but also a screenplay writer, producer and photographer and has extended his artistic skills to poetry, writing and painting. According to Jean-Luc Godard, "Cinema starts with D.W Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami" and Martin Scorsese adds that "Kiarostami represents the highest artistic level in cinema."
The 54th FICCI will feature the films
Taste of Cherry (1997), winner of the Golden Palm in Cannes;
The Wind Will Carry Us(1999), winner of the Special Jury prize in Venice;
Shirín (2008), nominated for the Golden Palm;
Ten (2002);
Ten by Ten(2004);
Certified Copy (2010, contribution of the Embassy of France);
Close Up (1990);
Where is the Friend's Home?(1987);
Life Goes on (1992) and
Through the Olive Trees (1994).
During the Festival, the Colombian public will have the opportunity to dig deeper into the cinematography of Kiarostami, finding themselves reflected within his work, much of which is unfamiliar to Colombians. Due to lack of distribution none of his titles have been shown at national commercial theaters.
The Iranian director will give a Master Class opened to the public that will consist of a cinematographic dialogue with a Latin American director who will be chosen by the festival. This event will include a screening of scenes from some of his movies.
Abbas Kiarostami's presence at the International Film Festival of Cartagena is sponsored by the University of Magdalena and made possible thanks to producer Blackfactory Cinema in alliance with Medio de Contención Productions, companies that will organize the workshop "Filming in Colombia with Abbas Kiarostami" in Bogotá from the 3rd to the 12th of March, 2014 at the Centro ÁTICO of the Universidad Javeriana of Bogotá. You can find the complete workshop schedule at
http://blackfactorycinema.com/taller.
