Pompidou Center to screen “Walking with the Wind” in tribute to Abbas Kiarostami
TEHRAN – (Iranart)- The Pompidou Center in Paris plans to screen the documentary “Walking with the Wind” on June 18 in its tribute to the celebrated Iranian artist Abbas Kiarostami.
Directed by Mehdi Shadizadeh in 2019, the documentary attempts to portray Kiarostami’s multiple artistic dimensions, and not just those of a filmmaking giant.
Seen through the eyes of a group of contemporaries made up of a filmmaker, an artist, a poet, a photographer, a graphic designer, a film critic and a gallery owner, we realize that Kiarostami was himself a poet, photographer, graphic designer, artist and woodcutter all rolled into one; a composite artist, and veritable modern-day Renaissance man.
Dreamlab Films, the France-based international distributor under Iranian film expert Nasrin Mirshab, is handling the international sales of the documentary.
“Abbas Kiarostami, recognized as one of the greatest ever international filmmaking authors, has always been a motivational idol of mine and for whom I bear the greatest respect,” Shadizadeh has written in a statement for his film.
He added, “However, he was not only a filmmaker, he was also a photographer, poet, painter and woodcutter, aspects of his life often overlooked.
“With this film, I wanted to show Kiarostami in all his multiple aspects and not just concentrate on his cinematic brilliance. In doing so I sought out those who had known him, other artists and filmmakers, in order to build up a composite portrait of the man himself.”
This film shows Golestan Gallery owner Lili Golestan, painter Aidin Aghdashlu, filmmaker Kianush Ayyari, poet Javad Mojabi, photographer Maryam Zandi, graphic designer Ebrahim Haqiqi and film critic Mohsen Azarm commenting about Kiarostami.
Screening the documentary is part of Pompidou Center’s program “Where Is Friend Kiarostami?”, which has been underway since May 5 to pay tribute to Kiarostami, who died of cancer on July 5, 2016.
The program organized in collaboration with the French company MK2 Films and the Kiarostami Foundation will exhibit an oeuvre of Kiarostami until July 5.
The entire works of Kiarostami, from films to photos and poems, are on view at the exhibition.
Numerous guests have been invited to attend the sessions reviewing 46 films by Kiarostami in the retrospective.
The exhibit also features collections of videos and documents, series of his unpublished photographs, sequences of his most beautiful films and presentations of his works on classical and contemporary poetry.
source: Tehran Times