May 31, 1999 — In Abbas Kiarostami’s universe, it might be said, there are no things, only relations between things. Likewise, in his cinema: no films, only relations between films—and within them. And between them and us.Three and one. The most celebrated of Iran’s...

Jul 21, 2020 — Consider this an afterword to Taste of Cherry (1997), the feature that brought its director, Abbas Kiarostami, to full international prominence, after it became the first Iranian movie to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival (where it...

May 25, 2017 — The vast majority of Cannes top-prize recipients have been either European or American, which makes it all the more worthwhile to note those winners that come from historically underrepresented nations. At the 1997 ceremony, Iran’s flourishing film culture enjoyed a...

Sep 15, 2016 — The Cinematheque at the Cleveland Institute of Art pays tribute to the late Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami with a screening of his international breakthrough, Taste of Cherry, a haunting meditation on life and death that follows a man over the...

Jan 26, 2017 — Over on the Criterion Channel, we’ve premiered our latest installment of Observations on Film Art, an original program that examines elements of cinematic style and how great filmmakers utilize them in their work. Hosted by film-studies scholar Kristin Thompson, this...

The actor and author talks about wishing he could have appeared in his favorite screwball comedy, The Awful Truth; praises the harrowing brilliance of Come and See; and shares his close connection to In a Lonely Place and Taste of...

The French cinema icon brought her trademark warmth and charm to the closet, lavishing love on favorites such as Jane Campion’s Sweetie and An Angel at My Table, Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry, and Jean-Luc Godard’s Band of Outsiders.

Jul 26, 2019 — The late Iranian master takes the spotlight in a magisterial retrospective—the most comprehensive survey of his career ever mounted—opening today at New York’s IFC Center.

Aug 28, 2024 — United by a meditative approach that captures the spiritual bounty of the natural landscape and the tolls of physical labor, this Mexican director’s films challenge stereotypical depictions of his country’s rural communities.

Nov 18, 2025 — Though the first two decades of the Iranian filmmaker’s career have long been underappreciated, this fertile period yielded philosophical and restlessly innovative works that reinvigorated both documentary and narrative-fiction cinema.