ABBAS KIAROSTAMI In Conversation With... | TIFF Bell Lightbox 2016

As TIFF Cinematheque launched its retrospective of his work in Winter 2016, Abbas Kiarostami joins TIFF Director & CEO Piers Handling for an intimate onstage conversation.
A true master of world cinema, the writer and director of such critically acclaimed films as Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us and Certified Copy joins us for an onstage conversation about his life and career, and Doors Without Key.

[@brotinbanerjee]

"I never made any film out of novel or literature or theatre. The only thing that inspires me to make a film is 'life' and my own observation of life. These observations can lead to one another. The film's are not made by me, they make themselves ". That's why he was a master. Not only for Iran but for all over the world, Kiarostami and his films helps us to see within our lives and eventually make us more humble, compassionate towards life.

[@dondake3409]

Kurosawa once said "...When Satyajit Ray passed on, I was very depressed. But after seeing Kiarostami's films, I thanked God for giving us just the right person to take his place." Now it is his turn. RIP Master Kiarostami.

[@rickhenderson2970]

Perhaps Weerasethakul has taken Kiarostami's place.

[@manuu759]

@@rickhenderson2970 absolutely not

[@josephwalker484]

You all prolly dont care at all but does anybody know a tool to log back into an instagram account?? I stupidly lost my password. I love any assistance you can give me

[@CinemaSatsang]

And who is ever going to replace Kurosawa!

[@jasonhill2348]

@@CinemaSatsang bong

[@dizimizi8337]

I can't explain how I'm interested in every single word of him! such a great artist... such a great human... It was too soon to lose him

[@Reza.Pezeshki]

RIP. His movies made me fall asleep but I would think about them later on. Very unique movie maker

[@fahimaalfarabi1646]

haha.. witty comment, but true. they do make you feel things and think about stuff afterwards. that's why he's a master :)

[@manjunathprasadcv3332]

@Tak Toja oh...look at you...you self entitled intellect

[@pouyapetg2725]

Love his movies. But I liked your comment, is said honestly.

[@nilsjunji4403]

@@pouyapetg2725 "I prefer the films that put their audience to sleep in the theatre, I think those films are kind enough to allow you a nice nap and not leave you disturbed when you leave the theatre. Some films have made me doze off in the theatre, but the same films have made me stay up at night, wake up thinking about them in the morning. and keep on thinking about them for weeks. those are the films I like." Mr. K oops.

[@pouyapetg2725]

@@nilsjunji4403 thank you. In a very nice moment of my day I saw your comment. 🙏

[@Mahir.arts268]

His movie make me love myself. God bless him. God bless all

[@ingridguimaraes5882]

Interesting... Why?

[@Kieslowski1989]

I have seen many movies from many countries but I'm still to come face-to-face with a film that moves me as much as Nema ye Nazdek. Even after a year of watching it, the score from the bike scene tears me up. That was yesterday.

[@nicomodesto4368]

Pure love for his films, Tarkovsky and Abbas are the goat.

[@alavicg]

Great is correct

[@Kieslowski1989]

Actually two of my favourites. Wow... So happy seeing someone with very same tastes.

[@nicomodesto4368]

@@Kieslowski1989 thanks, I love philosophy, poetry and music also.

[@Kieslowski1989]

@@nicomodesto4368 Umm... Am I talking to a different person. Feels like I'm talking to a mirror which is reciprocating my thoughts. Not the biggest fan of philosophy although I appreciate it a lot. Love poetry, music, literature and art in general.

[@nicomodesto4368]

@@Kieslowski1989 tell me about a story of your town.

[@cyrusa8591]

After changing my mind on going to medical school and while studying film after graduation, at University of Houston in 1995, in a seminar with Werner Herzog, Germany's (or the world’s) best film director, I asked him who the best film director of all time was in his opinion: he said to me “Abbas Kiarostami”. (and I could speak Abbas’s language and watch his films in Persian all along !) And to understand the important of this statement about Abbas by Herzog, French filmmaker François Truffaut once called Herzog "the most important film director alive.

[@Kieslowski1989]

Herzog was the most important director at that time but not the best German filmmaker for that title goes to either Wim Wenders or Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

[@adude3489]

Apart from the very instructive and brilliant quotes of Abbas Kiarostami , I really Enjoyed Masoumeh's Interpretations of his words. it's no wonder that he chose her to be his assistant for so long during his life. Thank you Masoumeh

[@mayankparekh8565]

kiarostami is the best film maker I ever encountered on this planet earth.

[@Reza.Pezeshki]

To the viewers who believe the translation was not accurate. I should say it is not easy to translate from Farsi to English and transfer the whole hidden meanings . Farsi can be very simple and sarcastic in the same time, you can use many simple metaphors which represent many things that are significant in Persian culture but meaningless in English. Farsi is not gender specific which makes it even more sarcastic in many cases. Kiarostami uses a simple poetic language full of metaphors which make it almost impossible to translate in English right a way. I think as an interpreter she did a reasonable job.

[@guildenkranz]

thanks for this post, not much more to say than that one should distinguish interpretation from word to word translation, and she's not only an interpreter but was one of Kiarostami's best friends, very familiar to his ideas and thinking

[@ReverseEngin33red]

Absolutely.

[@f_ozhisar]

Omg im going to register farsi language course after i read this post

[@manuu759]

Will you teach me farsi, i already know urdu

[@dan32113]

My favourite dish in the world is persian. Dhansak..

[@parhamsalimy1176]

RIP Abbas Kiarostami... Really enjoyed his speech but the translation could be better...

[@syedjafferimam5789]

I see here people complaining about the translator but let's be honest it's extremely tough to translate a farsi sentence into English not because there are not many words, English has enough words to interpret any language but Persian is a kind of language that deals with so many cultural terminologies and metaphors. Nevertheless this was a fabulous interview. Abbas Kiarostami was one of the greatest film makers/storytellers human race will ever have.

[@anac4950]

Thank you for uploading this!

[@rrasgar]

The wind will carry us ....R.I.P .

[@MiladGorgin]

Thank you for sharing this. I know that interpretation can be an incredibly difficult task, but as a Persian speaker, I can't help but wonder whether that lady couldn't have done a better job of this. I've seen her speak impeccable French on set for Copie conforme, but English is apparently not her forte. To be fair though, she was doing great in the introduction right until the first set of clips. I think It'd be well worth the effort to properly subtitle Kiarostami's words and cut out the rest as this interview offers some fascinating insight into his body of works. Great questions from the host, by the way. Some seem to have been, alas, lost on Kiarostami through interpretation though. I still cannot bring myself to believe that there will no more films by Kiarostami... And to think how easily he could've been treated in the first place had it not been for one unscrupulous doctor... It just doesn't make sense...

[@hoopoe3458]

RE "English is apparently not her forte," I couldn't disagree more. IMHO, her English is impeccable. Perhaps you are criticizing the lady's comprehension of his Farsi.

[@echomike362]

A professional consecutive interpreter needs a notepad, a handy pen and pure passion to inhale the details regardless of the complexity of the terminology, analogy and metaphor.

[@Shana-bz5xh]

I miss him so much ch , I am thinking what kind of movie he would make by now

[@pp-uf4qo]

His look at life is very beautiful and real. He had a very deep understanding of his surroundings. He knew humanity well

[@ghassemgolestani8351]

The most interesting artistic conversations I have ever seen.

[@alavicg]

Thank you. I enjoyed it very much. My tears flowed.

[@ln14517]

I'm so glad they fixed the lighting it was bad at the beginning.

[@uzaytakip7221]

pure human life in his films...

[@alavicg]

خیلی ممنون . بسیار لذت بردم و اشکم جاری شد.

[@ARASHREZVAN]

such a great conversation. Thanks a lot.

[@siatavakoli]

@tifforiginals, Is there a high resolution and HD quality of this interview available for download with licensing info? Your response is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[@BluetarES7]

I have Clear sense of focus of what to accomplish 🎭 .

[@joerogan3079]

*THE ENDING OF TASTE OF CHERRY FUCKED ME* 😢

[@samnader1775]

Massoumeh Lahidji is a freelance interpreter and translator, specializing in film. She works in five languages. She has been the permanent interpreter of the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes since 2007. Her role includes introducing and moderating the Q&A sessions of all the films, along with the artistic director of the festival. She regularly works in many other international film festivals, where she moderates press conferences and masterclass (Deauville, La Rochelle, Les Arcs in France, but also Locarno, Marrakech, Toronto, NYFF). Massoumeh has worked with directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Abel Ferrara, David Cronenberg, Steven Soderbergh, John Boorman, Stephen Frears, Werner Herzog, Abbas Kiarostami and actors including Harvey Keitel, Dustin Hoffman, Jim Carrey, Forest Whitaker, Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep. Massoumeh has also adapted screenplays for international productions (Certified Copy, The Past) and worked as a go-between for directors and actors on multilingual shootings (Certified Copy, Bird People). She wrote the subtitles for Winter Sleep, this year's Palme d'or in Cannes. - IMDb Mini Biography By: adam

[@sajiashojaei6568]

Sam Nader عالی wow so nice

[@arij9331]

Wow! I'm quite speechless about the amazing job this interpreter has done. Oh my! Having been an interpreter for over 10 years I can not even imagine being able to remember what Abbas Kiarostami said, let alone interpret it. She has a memory like an elephant. Kudos!

[@joulietdaniel7609]

Amazing job! speechless!

[@Sahil-oj5iv]

Does anyone know the Arab philosopher Kiarostami talks about at 50:37? Please help!

[@Angela-sk6mw]

Unique ❤ beautiful personality made beautiful films.

[@masoudmosallaie4821]

Gos Bless you!

[@shs4259]

REST IN PEACE DEAR ABBAS KIAROSZAMI

[@viveksinghsikarwar9526]

Could you please add English subtitles

[@pradeephistory]

Love you abbas

[@chfam2653]

RIP dearest Abbas

[@mortezakhezri94]

perfect

[@mahnazsaebi8132]

Nice man, RIP 🙏

[@behrouzmoein372]

روحت شاد عالیقدر بی بدیل

[@ridoinimarwa]

DELIGHTFUL.

[@TheDuartecoutinho]

it really annoys me that there are empty sits in the room

[@tanvirrrrrrrrrr]

he was great

[@user-yq3eg7rt3n]

"Крупный план" лучший фильм у Киорастами

[@armanvpn1229]

R.I.P

[@montassarkhdhir9854]

"We're not able to look at what we have Infront of us unless it's inside a frame." _KIAROSTAMI Cinema lovers hit them differently

[@Sahil-oj5iv]

Does anyone know the Arab philosopher Kiarostami talks about at 50:37? Please help!

[@Sahar_Peters]

He passed away shortly after this interview in July 2016.

[@shafffffff]

He's such a genius

[@renas4404]

Kurdish subtitles ??

[@aligeravamdzaroni5181]

i have been loved you .....

[@jameskane8428]

RIP

[@pnayeri]

The translations are not exact mainly because his answers are way to long for the translator to remember! It’s really a pity!

[@rameshdir1930]

👍👍💐💐

[@arefeshghi]

The translation (by the interpreter) is not very good. In some cases it is incomplete, wrong and even opposite of what he said! For example, where he is talking about children innocence, where he talked about his painting in the French director movie or where he talked about the installment of trees. Maybe the interpreter should have taken some notes while he was talking.

[@arefeshghi]

Having said that about 4 years ago, now that I watched this interview again, I have to say that she does an excellent job in general and I didn''t mean to undermine her work at all.

[@nestorrakhshani9476]

arapik baghdassaribn dast yare shoma bood!

[@Citadin]

start at 2:34 or 4:32 11:09 31:18

[@lastsolfa]

I understand both Persian and English and with all due respect to the interpreter, she confuses some of what kiarostami is trying to say and at times unintentionally makes him come across as a little bit arrogant.

[@Subsciber777]

I don’t know how the translator is remembering all this. Bro’s speaking in paragraphs

[@emiliannavazquez492]

What arab philosopher is he speaking of? if someone could let me know.

[@samannevis]

who is she?

[@faridehnaghsh]

Great man. Abbas Kiarostami, I wish the interpreter was more into the translation, not herself, such a pity.

[@lillyaria6483]

Afsos Afsos,

[@mugli3681]

😢

[@stannisbaratheon8061]

afsos from Bangladesh :(

[@sydray9694]

poor interpretation (translation)... she butchered many details either because she did not understood his words or she was more concerned about saving face on camera than to deliver the concept.

[@sydray9694]

...and her makeup, hairdo and dress also indicates that she is claiming part of the glory :)

[@younes1828]

she translated "DEVIL" but in Persian "naughty" should be proper for children as an adjective :)

[@QwertyCanada]

Yes, could be much better.

[@Reza.Pezeshki]

on the contrary he really meant Devil. As these kids had been lying to him about their lives

[@rezajalilvand1981]

i never liked his films but he himself has been very lovely.....

[@remophix]

Persian here, the translator is doing a very very poor job translating and I'm mad at her.

[@afshinmehr492]

An amateur cinema filmmaker who wanted to be seen in foreign cardboard festivals and to win awards and was happy, he did not know realism and cinema and his films were more documentary than cinematic... for example, he was a reporter rather than a cinematic... even to a single frame The cinema did not come nea

[@eyefromsky2334]

she translates wrong. and she sensor to

[@shs80k]

Horrible translation

[@chfam2653]

The worst translation ever

[@haghbayan]

Poooor translation...

[@kircholagh]

bad translation

[@hondacb750four]

Diese Regeseure mit einander zu vergleichen ist einfach kompletter Unsinn, korosawa und kiarostamiy und was weiß ich wer , darf man miteinander nicht vergleichen, denn sie kommen aus total unterschiedlichen Kulturen und jeder hat eine Sichtweise, die mit der Kultur seines Landes verbunden ist .

[@vipulpathak8882]

I think kiarostami was in the wrong field. He should've written books rather than make movies. The man is a bore in movie making. Bland and uninspired. But the story can be written as a good novel

[@yalda131]

RIP