Pat Collins and Fergus Daly’s documentary is a unique film-essay on the world-renowned Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami. It takes an analytical approach and celebrates Kiarostami as the complete artist that he is: poet, painter, photographer, installation artist and filmmaker. Interviews with Kiarostami, filmed on the Aran Islands and at the Cannes Film Festival, are intercut with the interpretations of critics and fellow filmmakers from the USA, Australia, France and Iran, who isolate the Iranian’s global importance and originality. Abbas Kiarostami: the Art of Living examines the social, aesthetic and spiritual themes in his work and traces the artist’s zigzagging journey, his progressive distillation of reality as, step by step, the lyrical narratives of old have evolved into a multi-faceted project of remarkable intensity.
(Ireland, 2003. Colour. Beta SP video. 56 mins.)