ABBAS KIAROSTAMI

Film Retrospective - Programme

The programme below shows the dates and times for each screening, the screening room plus a brief description of each film. Films are listed chronologically based on the first screening time. For an alphabetical listing by title click on 'List of Films' in the left column of this page.

The Experience (Tajrobeh) + Bread and Alley (Nan va koucheh) + Breaktime (Zangu-e tafrih)

Sun 1 May 15.20 NFT3; Wed 25 May 18.20 NFT2

In Kiarostami's very impressive first long work The Experience (1973, 60 mins), a teenage boy working for a demanding boss in a photography shop begins to hope for a brighter future when he takes a fancy to a local girl. Bread and Alley (1970, 10 mins), his very first film, and Breaktime (1972, 14 mins) also depict, in engagingly low-key fashion, life-lessons of a sort, but for rather younger boys. Though self-taught, Kiarostami displays an intuitive and inventive approach to cutting, composition and - perhaps most especially - sound that is subtle yet extremely expressive.

Total c84 mins.

The Traveller (Mossafer) + So Can I (Man ham mitoumam) + Two Solutions for One Problem (Do rah-e hal baraye yek massaleh)

Sun 1 May 20.30 NFT3; Sat 14 May 16.15 NFT1

Kiarostami's first feature (1974, 74 mins) centres on a soccer-mad schoolboy determined to get to see an international match in Tehran come what may. A somewhat rueful celebration of his neglected ingenuity rather than of noble ambition or moral worth (the kid's quite ruthless in his obsession), the film is also a glorious development of Kiarostami's interest in journeys both physical and spiritual. So Can I (1975, 4 mins) plays variations on a children's game, while Two Solutions for One Problem (1975, 5 mins) is a delightfully droll slapstick parable about antagonism and reconciliation.

Total c83 mins.

A Wedding Suit (Lebasi bara-ye arusi) + Plus Colours (Rang-ha) + Tribute to the Teachers (Bozorgdasht-e mo'allem) + How to Make Use of Leisure Time: Painting (Az oghat-e faraghat-e khod chegouneh estefadeh konim: Rang-zanie)

Mon 2 May 15.15 NFT3; Sat 28 May 18.20 NFT2

An incisive realist parable (1976, 54 mins), in which the story of three teenagers-one middle-class, the others poor-working in a business district and coming into conflict over a suit made for a wedding, is employed to illuminate class divisions in Tehran under the Shah's regime. It is also one of a number of films Kiarostami made during this period which reveals the way the young are exploited by their elders. Plus Colours (1976, 15 mins), one of Kiarostami's most delightfully eccentric shorts, looking at the presence and usage of colour in the world; Tribute to the Teachers (1977, 20 mins), his rarely screened first documentary about education; and How to Make Use of Leisure Time: Painting (1977, 7 mins), a humorous slice of didacticism.

Total c96 mins.

The Report (Gozarech)

Mon 2 May 18.00 NFT2; Sun 29 May 20.40 NFT2

A rare screening for this corrosive study of the domestic and professional life of a Tehran bureaucratic clerk two years prior to the Islamic Revolution. Corruption and confusion are rife, and the man's relationship with his wife has reached a crisis. Reflecting not only the seismic shifts then affecting Iranian society but also, perhaps, the director's own feelings following a recent divorce, this is one of his darkest and, in many ways, least characteristic films.

Iran 1977. 112 mins.

First Case, Second Case (Ghazieh-e shekl-e aval, ghazieh-e shekl-e douuom) + Solution (Rah-e hal) + Toothache (Dandan-dard)

Tues 3 May 20.40 NFT2; Fri 20 May 18.15 NFT2

Made around the time of the Islamic Revolution, First Case, Second Case (1979, 53 mins) uses the example of a student's rebellious behaviour to reflect on issues of social duty, interpersonal loyalty and betrayal for the sake of a greater good. The systematic use of talking heads offering opinions on the ethics of a socio-political dilemma was Kiarostami's first foray into repetition as a formal device. Solution (1978, 11 mins), about a man broken down on a desert road, and Toothache (1979, 23 mins) are lighter-hearted experiments in didactic filmmaking.

Total c87 mins.

Fellow Citizen (Hamshahri) + Orderly or Disorderly (Beh tartib ya bedoun-e tartib) + The Chorus (Hamsorayan)

Thu 5 May 18.20 NFT2; Sat 21 May 16.00 NFT2

Fellow Citizen (1983, 52 mins) sees Kiarostami's play with repetition at its most extreme, resulting somewhat remarkably in a wondrously witty, revealing study of man's capacity for narrative invention (or lies), as a traffic cop's efforts to control drivers are countered by an astonishing array of excuses. So much for civic duty and obedience in Tehran! The mini-masterpiece Orderly or Disorderly (1981, 16 mins) also explores notions of the best way to behave, but to surreal and devastatingly subversive effect, even questioning its own documentary integrity; while The Chorus (1982, 17 mins) takes that film's experiments with sound and its influence on life (and movies) even further.

Total c85 mins.

First-Graders (Avali-ha)

Wed 4 May 18.20 NFT2; Sun 22 May 16.10 NFT1

Fascinating primarily for its status as a kind of dry-run for the masterly Homework, this investigative documentary concerns the education and treatment of pupils at a school in one of Tehran's poorest districts. It's certainly a very revealing film, but rather more conventional than its superior successor, partly because here Kiarostami does not examine his own relationship, as filmmaker, to his subjects.

Iran 1984. 84 mins.

Where Is the Friend's House? (Khaneh-je doost kojast?)

Sat 7 May 16.15 NFT1; Mon 23 May 18.30 NFT1

The first film in what later became known as the Koker Trilogy, this turns a country schoolboy's determination to prevent a pal's expulsion for not having done his homework into a major geographical, moral and poetic odyssey, testing his ingenuity, nerve and resolve even as it teaches him about the cruelty and compromises of the adult world. A landmark in Kiarostami's career, this funny, frightening and poignant gem secured his international profile.

Iran 1987. 87 mins.

Homework (Mashq-e shab)

Sat 7 May 18.30 NFT1; Tue 17 May 20.45 NFT1

Another look (but from a very different angle) at what happens when kids leave school at the end of the day. Curious due to his own son's experiences, Kiarostami visits a school to ask pupils about homework and life at home; the revealing (if less than entirely honest) responses suggest that neither educational authorities nor parents are as adept at stimulating the imagination as in inspiring fear and suspicion. Wisely, Kiarostami questions his own role as cinematic interrogator, creating a rich, resonant, multi-layered documentary.

Iran 1989. 86 mins.

Close-Up (Namay-eh nazdik)

Thu 28 Apr 18.15 NFT1; Sun 8 May 16.00 NFT2;
Thu 12 May 20.40 NFT2; Wed 18 May 18.10 NFT3;
Sun 22 May 20.45 NFT1

Kiarostami explores the parameters of 'documentary' and notions of objective 'truth' by investigating the case of an impoverished cinephile charged with encouraging a family to believe that he's director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and that he plans to cast them in his next movie. Kiarostami promises the man that his camera's presence at the trial will clarify matters, but the only things we're left sure of are the accused's fundamental goodness and the impossibility of certainty. Utterly original, accessible and compelling, and a masterpiece.

Iran 1990. 98 mins.

And Life Goes On... (Zendegi va digar hich) (aka Lifeand Nothing More.../ Va zendegi edemah darad)

Sat 7 May 20.45 NFT1; Fri 27 May 18.30 NFT1

Shortly after a massive earthquake, Kiarostami returned to the mountain region that had been the setting for Where Is the Friend's House?; a year later, he made a film inspired by that trip, about a filmmaker travelling with his son in search of two young actors who may have died. The result is an amazingly fruitful exploration of the relationship of life and death, despair and determination, reality and art.

Iran 1991. 91 mins.

Through the Olive Trees (Zir-e darakhtan-e zeyton)

Tue 10 May 18.30 NFT1; Sun 15 May 20.45 NFT1; Mon 30 May 20.45 NFT1

The final Koker film, this time with Kiarostami recreating the - real-life? fictional? - romantic problems arising between two cast members during the filming of And Life Goes On.... Fascinating both as a warm but wry tale of life, love and the cinema, and as a multi-layered interweaving of related narratives; at one point we even see two actors playing Kiarostami surrogates and talking to one another!

Iran-France 1994. 103 mins.

The Taste of Cherry (Ta'am-e gilas) + Dinner for One (Sham bara-ye yek nafar) + The Birth of Light (Tavalod-e noor)

Fri 13 May 18.30 NFT1; Sat 14 May 20.45 NFT1; Sun 22 May 18.30 NFT1

Though it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, The Taste of Cherry (1997, 99 mins) is one of Kiarostami's toughest, most teasing films, refusing to offer easy answers as it follows its enigmatic protagonist on his mysterious quest, driving his car around the mountains above Tehran, and luring the men he gives lifts to into fateful conversations. A work of sombre majesty, taking into uncharted territory Kiarostami's abiding fascination with the relationship between life and death. Plus Dinner for One (1996), a one-minute short from the compilation Lumiere and Company, and The Birth of Light (1997, 5 mins), which in some respects anticipates Five.

Total c105 mins.

The Wind Will Carry Us (Bad mara khahad bord)

Sun 15 May 18.20 NFT1; Fri 20 May 20.40 NFT1; Sun 29 May 18.20 NFT1

Kiarostami's most visually gorgeous film continues his exploration of our attitude to mortality, but to more quizzical, comic and conspicuously poetic effect, as a carful of city slickers visit a remote mountain village in search of... what, exactly? A scoop? Some sort of regeneration? Whatever, there's self-critique at play here, amidst all the mobile-phone gags, the invisible characters and the reflections on emotional and spiritual rebirth. A beguilingly light-hearted and lovely masterpiece.

Iran-France 1999. 118 mins.

ABC Africa

Wed 18 May 20.40 NFT2; Thu 19 May 20.40NFT2; Mon 30 May 18.20 NFT2

Commissioned by the UN to make a film publicising the work of women caring for kids orphaned by AIDS and war in Uganda, Kiarostami avoided both cliché and exploitation by focusing on the vitality he found there. Scenes of suffering are few (and so doubly effective) as he builds up a typically subtle and allusive tribute to African (and female) energy, courage and determination. Music, colour, beauty and compassion are intimately captured by his digital camera, though a hospital visit and a subsequent storm bring poetry and philosophy into play as well.

Iran-France 2001. 85 mins.

10

Thu 19 May 18.20 NFT2; Tues 24 May 20.40 NFT2;Mon 30 May 16.15 NFT1

A hugely innovative minimalist masterpiece, exploring both the oppression of women in modern Iran and the dramatic and political potential of a largely improvised film made with two fixed camera angles entirely within the confines of a car being driven around the busy streets of Tehran. The film has the intensity, intimacy and authenticity of a documentary, but is in fact inflected with the richness and subtlety of poetic fiction. It's revealing, subversive, surprising, witty, mysterious and, in the end, amazingly moving.

Iran-France 2002. With Mania Akbari, Amin Maher. 93 mins.

Five

Fri 20 May 14.40, 18.10. 20.30 NFT3; Sat 21 May15.50, 18.10, 20.30 NFT3; Sun 22 May 15.50, 18.10, 20.30 NFT3; Mon 23 May 18.10, 20.30 NFT3; Tue 24 May 18.10, 20.30 NFT3; Wed 25 May 18.10 , 20.30 NFT3; Thu 26 May 18.15, 20.30 NFT3; Fri 27 May 14.40, 18.10, 20.30 NFT3; Sat 28 May 15.50, 18.10, 20.30 NFT3; Sun 29 May 16.00, 18.10, 20.30 NFT3; Mon 30 May 15.50, 18.10, 20.30 NFT3; Tue 31 May 18.10, 20.30 NFT3; Wed 1 June 18.10, 20.30 NFT3; Thu 2 June 18.10, 20.30 NFT3

Kiarostami's remarkable compilation of five seemingly single-shot shorts, filmed on the shores of the Caspian, is a wholly logical step in his zigzagging career. There's no 'story': The first episode depicts a piece of wood tossed by the tide; the second observes people on a promenade; the third shows distant dogs; the fourth (and funniest) features dozens of ducks; and the fifth, shot at night, 'stars' invisible frogs and the moon. Developing methods pioneered in 10, Kiarostami frees himself of 'the obligations of narration and the slavery of directing', while offering a sublimely lovely response to the natural world, so that the film takes its place alongside his rural road-movies, his poetry and his photographs. But this is not just pretty pictures: the shorts comprise a kind of abstract narrative arc, involving solitude and community, motion and rest, near-silence and sound, light and darkness. Nor are they 'documentary': Kiarostami influenced what might happen in front of his camera in various ways, and constructed the final segment from some 20 takes shot over several months; the soundtrack, too, was 'composed' during a lengthy mixing process. Finally, nor is Five a video installation; it is digital cinema, intended to be seen on a big screen in a darkened room. And it uses many of Kiarostami's usual methods - lies, repetition, ellipsis, off-screen sound, invisible cuts, non-professional actors of various species - to encourage us to look again at the world, more closely, and consider it afresh. All you need, for this unusually accessible experimental work, is a little patience and imagination; its subtlety, beauty and poetic resonance will soon become clear.(Geoff Andrew).

Iran-France 2003. 74 mins. A bfi release.

10 on Ten + Ten Minutes Older

Wed 25 May 20.40 NFT2; Tue 31 May 18.30 NFT1 (*)

Initially intended and used as a masterclass for film workshops, but inevitably of rather wider interest and appeal, this finds Kiarostami alone in his car, driving the mountain roads first seen in The Taste of Cherry, while proffering his thoughts, in ten 'chapters', on filmmaking, intercut with a few with clips from 10. By the end of what turns out to be an exhilarating intellectual adventure, we've had a fascinating glimpse into the mind of one of cinema's most idiosyncratic and insightful masters; the last chapter alone is quite extraordinary. Plus Ten Minutes Older, which is a touching and perceptive meditation on time's passing, made for (but inexplicably not included in) the compilation films of the same name.

Iran-France 2004. 93 mins. plus Iran 2003. 10 mins.
* Special discount for students 3 GBP.

Tickets (Special Preview)

Tue 31 May 20.45 NFT1

UK premiere of this collaboration by three of the greatest imaginative interpreters of the 'realist' aesthetic in cinema. More than a mere portmanteau movie, this succeeds unusually well as a feature, with first Olmi, then Kiarostami, and finally Loach charting the fortunes of various characters on board a train from Innsbruck to Rome. Touching, funny, mysterious - and packed with sly surprises - it's a real treat.

Italy-UK 2004/dir Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach. 115 mins.
Tickets 11.50 GBP, concs 9.25 GBP.
Courtesy of Artificial Eye.