Cannes Director Spotlight: Abbas Kiarostami

Abbas Kiarostami
New Film: Like Someone in Love
Country: Iran
Age: 71
Best Known for: 1997 Palme d'Or winner Taste of Cherry and last year's brilliant mind-bender Certified Copy

Cannes History
Like Someone in Love marks Kiarostami's fifth shot at a Palme d'Or. He has one—earned for Taste of Cherry. His other Cannes titles are Through the Olive Trees (1994), Ten (2002), and Certified Copy.

His Resume
It's not often a director—or a person, for that matter—makes a drastic change late in life, but in 2010, Abbas Kiarostami transformed from a thoroughly Iranian director into an international art-house icon. To be fair, Kiarostami has long been an icon of the international film world (his Cannes history speaks for itself), but Certified Copy showed to what extent he could diversify.

For a long time, Kiarostami focused primarily on documentary filmmaking in his native Iran. He started gaining attention for narrative work around 1987, when he released Where Is the Friend's Home?, the first film in his so-called Koker Trilogy (three Kiarostami films set in the village of Koker). 1990's Close-up, which brilliantly blends documentary and narrative techniques, has been immortalized by the Criterion Collection. And Through the Olive Trees (the final Koker film; 1992's And Life Goes On is the second) earned him his first trip to Cannes in 1994.

Post-Palme, he's made a number of films that have earned him a wider and wider audience each time out. Cinephiles everywhere flock to theaters every few years to see Kiarostami's latest signature long takes and car conversations. As of 2012, he's one of the Competition's most highly regarded directors, and a new Kiarostami film is virtually assured a spot on the Croisette.

Kiarostami On-Demand
Hulu Plus: Taste of Cherry, Close-up
iTunes: Close-up
Netflix Instant: Certified Copy, Shirin, Ten
Vudu: N/A

Like Someone in Love
"Referred to as a 'continuation' of last year’s terrific Certified Copy, Love sees Kiarostami take his first trip to Japan, chronicling 'the unusual relationship between a student (Rin Takanashi), who works as prostitute on the side to pay for her studies, and a brilliant, elderly academic (Tadashi Okuno) who is one her clients.'" —The Film Stage

Even with a teaser (embedded below) that was released before the Cannes lineup was announced, we don't know too much about this film. Though it's apparently some kind of continuation of Certified Copy, there is no Juliette Binoche-level star, and the setting has moved halfway around the world.

Kiarostami's working with an unfamiliar cast and crew—primarily Japanese, including cinematographer Katsumi Yanagijima (Battle Royale). His two stars, Rin Takanishi and Tadashi Okuno, have resumes smaller than mine. And the subject matter (a Japanese schoolgirl shacks up with a professor to help get herself through college) isn't one I'd describe as inherently Kiarostami.

That said, the man can do no wrong, as far as I'm concerned. It's not an exaggeration to say Certified Copy is one of the ten most important movies in my life, and with his friend, Nanni Moretti presiding over the jury, there's a decent chance the Iranian walks home with some Cannes hardware for the first time in 15 years.