Abbas Kiarostami's renowned film 'Friend's House' continued its theatrical revival screening in Greece, showing sessions at two open-air cinemas in Athens on September 26 and 27.
The 1987 film, produced by the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Youth (Kanun), was screened at the Amiko open-air cinema on Saturday, September 26, and then at the Aniksis open-air cinema on Sunday, September 27. Both screenings were conducted in Persian with Greek subtitles.
The revival screening of 'Friend's House' in Greece began on August 27, and the two showings in Athens were part of the film's ongoing theatrical cycle in the country.
The plot tells the story of Ahmad, a rural schoolboy who mistakenly takes a classmate's notebook home. Worried that his friend might be punished for not having done his homework, Ahmad travels to a neighboring village to return the notebook.
Through what seems like a simple journey for a child, Kiarostami explores themes such as friendship, responsibility, and compassion, while offering a restrained depiction of rural life and childhood.
Since its release, the film has received numerous awards, including the 'Bronze Leopard' at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, the Critics' Award at the São Paulo International Film Festival, and the Pasinetti Award at the Venice Film Festival.
'Friend's House' is one of Kiarostami's iconic works and the first part of his Coker trilogy, which also includes the films 'And Life Goes On' (1992) and 'Through the Olive Trees' (1994).
Over the decades, the film has been shown at numerous international film festivals and cinemas, continuing to appear in retrospectives and programs dedicated to world cinema.
Kiarostami was a director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, he participated in the production of over 40 films, including short films and documentaries. He received critical acclaim for directing works such as 'Close-Up' (1990), 'The Wind Will Carry Us' (1999), and 'Taste of Cherry' (1997).
In later works, 'Certified Copy' (2010) and 'Love is Blind' (2012), he filmed outside of Iran for the first time: in Italy and Japan, respectively.
He was part of the generation of Iranian New Wave filmmakers—a movement of Persian cinema that began in the late 1960s and emphasized the use of poetic dialogue and allegorical narrative addressing philosophical questions. He is known for using Persian poetry in the dialogues, titles, and themes of his films. His works also contain a noticeable degree of ambiguity, an unusual combination of simplicity and complexity, and often a mix of fictional and documentary elements. Concepts of change and continuity, besides the themes of life and death, play an important role in Kiarostami's work.
Kiarostami, a winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for 'Taste of Cherry', passed away from cancer on July 5, 2016, at the age of 76.