Award-winning Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami dies at 76July 5, 2016 - 12:53 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Award-winning Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami has died in Paris aged 76, BBC reports citing Iranian news agencies. He had been undergoing hospital treatment in France for cancer. Kiarostami stayed in Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and made more than 40 films, including documentaries. He won the Palme D'Or, the top prize at Cannes, with his 1997 film Taste of Cherry. But he shot his last two films outside the country. Kiarostami was hugely influential in world cinema. The French-Swiss director Jean-Luc Godard is reputed to have said: "Film begins with DW Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami." He was the only Iranian to ever win the Palme D'Or. Taste of Cherry was a minimalist film about a man looking for someone to bury him after his suicide. It examined Iranian civic and religious attitudes of the time. Top stories Ara Aivazian said Azerbaijan continues the traditions of Turkey after seizing territories and forced Armenians out. The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. Partner news | Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State to travel to Armenia Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs James C. O’Brien will travel to Yerevan on June 10-12. |