Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, whose 1997 film Taste of Cherry won the prestigious Palme d'Or and who kept working despite government resistance, died on Monday. He was 76. Iran's official news agency Irna said Kiarostami died in Paris, where he had gone for cancer treatment last week after undergoing surgery earlier this year.
Kiarostami wrote and directed dozens of films over a career spanning more than 40 years. Taste of Cherry, which told the story of a middle-aged man looking for someone to bury him after he kills himself, won the top award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Kiarostami also wrote and directed Certified Copy, a 2010 film starring Juliette Binoche, and 2002's groundbreaking Ten, documenting a day in the life of a female taxi driver, filmed entirely inside a moving car. Filmmaker Martin Scorsese was among those who rushed to pay tribute to the consummate artist.
“I got to know Abbas over the last 10 or 15 years,” he said. “He was a very special human being: quiet, elegant, modest, articulate and quite observant. I don’t think he missed anything.”
Kiarostami is survived by two sons, Ahmad and Bahman Kiarostami, who work in multimedia and documentary film.