Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami to receive Tomas Gutierrez Alea International Film Award

Famous Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami was given the Tomas Gutierrez Alea International Film Award in Havana, granted by the Association of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC, after its initials in Spanish).

During the award-giving ceremony, the president of this institution, Miguel Barnet, spoke of the privilege of having in Cuba the author of films such as Taste of Cherry and Like Someone in Love.

Art critic Rolando Pérez Betancourt talked about Kiarostami’s work, who is considered one of the most important filmmakers in the world, “creator of a visual language that makes him stand out in a sea of filmmakers”.

He said that in his 45 years dedicated to cinema, he has given to the big screen a lasting style, with a unique atmosphere management, careful photography and a special way of passing on great humanism.

Earlier, during a press conference, Kiarostami qualified as extraordinary the San Antonio de los Baños International Film and Television School (EICTV), where he is teaching these days.

The filmmaker said that of all the existing film workshops around the world, the best students are the ones studying at this institution created in Cuba in 1986.

A film series devoted to Kiarostami, who will deliver a lecture at the EICTV next January 30, will take place from tomorrow at 23 y 12 movie theater, the seat of the Cinemateca de Cuba.

This consists of the feature films Close- up, Where Is the Friend's Home?, Life, and nothing more, Through the Olive Trees, Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us, Ten,  10 On Ten, Shirin, Certified Copy and Like Someone in Love.

Source Cubadebate