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| Abbas Kiarostami |
Institute for Global Cinema and Creative Cultures,
University of St Andrews
Tuesday, 21 February 2017
School I, 17:00 – 21:00
Abbas Kiarostami, the most notable auteur of contemporary Iranian cinema
who passed away in July 2015 at 76, is fondly celebrated by global cinephiles
for his aesthetics, visual poetry and humanistic politics.
His films draw from history, sociology, anthropology, geopolitics,
religion and philosophy. Masterpieces like Where is My Friend's House?
(1987), Close-up (1990), and Through the Olive Trees (1994) – to
name just a few -- are regarded worldwide as some of the most important works
of cinema.
We invite you to spend an evening viewing and discussing Kiarostami
work. The director’s films necessitate keen attention because of the superb
dialectics between local and global. His portrayal of a concrete (Iranian)
history, culture, and politics is structured in a way that expands the
experteintial horizons to the universal.
It is this transformative potential of Kiarostami’s films that earned
him a most notable position in the annals of cinema.
For the event, we chose to show the Palme d'or winning Taste of
Cherry (1997): a philosophical masterpiece and a marvelous example of
film craft.
A video essay that builds on sequences from Kiarostami’s films and other
aspects of his versatile artistic legacy will also be screened.
Programme:
17:00 – 17:10 Welcome address and introduction to
the “Workshop Series on Filmmakers at St Andrews” by Prof. Dina Iordanova,
Director, IGCCC.
17:10 – 17:45 Professor Jean-Michel Frodon,
‘The oeuvre of Kiarostami: A Personal Tribute’
17:45 – 19:20 Screening: Taste of Cherry (1997, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami, 95
minutes)
19:20 – 19:40 Tea Break/ Display of Shorna Pal’s video essay on Kiarostami
19:40 – 20:15 Two brief presentations by Shorna
Pal (on ceating the video essay) and Sanghita Sen (on the Koker trilogy)
20:15 – 21:00 Discussion, moderated by
Dina Iordanova and Jean-Mchel Frodon
Related recent research:
Frodon, Jean-Michel. The Kiarostami
effect. Honar va cinéma n°3. Tehran. March 2016. Pp 68-75.
OUR NEW WORKSHOP SERIES
KIAROSTAMI AT ST ANDREWS is the inaugural event in a series that will
see the presentation of other similar events where we will dedicate a single
evening to the work of a recently deceased single personality from global
cinema.
Forthcoming workshops will be dedicated to WAJDA AT ST ANDREWS (March
2017) and PURI AT ST ANDREWS (April 2017).
Conceived and curated by the Institute of Global Cinema and Creative
Cultures (University of St Andrews) the series will celebrate the artistry of
those whose names are synomymous with global film.
Along with film enthusiasts who like to go beyond the mainstream, we
will get together to view and discuss the work of the masters whilst their
charismatic presence is still fresh on our minds.
And whilst the focus will be on the films of one filmmaker, actor or
other creative personality, we will invoke examples that will keep in check the
context of transnational film culture, in which global cinema appears and
thrives.
The workshops will be lead by Professor Dina Iordanova, alongside
personalities such as Prof Jean-Michel Frodon, Prof. John Burnside, and others,
and involving contributions from our wonderfully global student cohort.
The sessions will be loosely structured around
screenings, short presentations, videos, provocations, and interventions.
Everybody will have the chance to take part.
