TIFF was saddened to learn of the death of Abbas Kiarostami, the award-winning Iranian director who was a heralded presence at such international film festivals as Cannes and Venice, as well as in Tokyo. Kiarostami died on July 4 in Paris, at the age of 76.
 

 
In 1992, TIFF first had the privilege of showing the Kiarostami film Life, and Nothing More… (aka And Life Goes On...) in the International Competition section of the 5th annual festival.
 

 
Over the years, TIFF has been honored to show many other Kiarostami works, including Under the Olive Trees, in the Best of Asian Films section, 1994; Taste of Cherry and Locarno Half a Century: Thoughts about the Future Les Parias du Cinema, in the Cinema Prism section, 1997; and The Project (codirected with Bahman Kiarostami), in the special focus on Iranian documentary section, 1997.
 
In 1999, The Wind will Carry Us was screened as the closing film of TIFF’s Cinema Prism section, and the vibrant, avant-garde Shirin was a highlight of the Winds of Asia section in 2009.
 
In 2012, Kiarostami produced Like Someone in Love* with a Japanese cast and staff. It premiered in Competition at the 65th Cannes Film Festival and was released in Japan to public acclaim. It was to be Kiarostami’s final feature film.
 
 
TIFF would like to express our condolences and deepest sympathies to his family. May his soul rest in peace.
 
Tokyo International Film Festival Committee