TEHRAN- The Film Museum of Iran will review two documentaries by the world-renowned Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami on Monday. 

“Two Solutions for One Problem” (1975) and “In First Case, Second Case” (1979) will go on screen at the Ferdows Hall of the Museum, Mehr reported. 

The screening will be followed by a review session by Iranian film critic Robert Safarian. 

In “Two Solutions for One Problem”, two young boys are classmates. When Nader returns his friend’s notebook, the cover of which he has inadvertently torn, the other is faced with two solutions, either he takes revenge or the two boys look for a solution together, glue for example, and thus remain good friends. 

“In First Case, Second Case” (1979), the filmmaker poses a double-edged question: Is it better to betray your classmates or show solidarity against the punishment of an angry teacher?

Kiarostami was a film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, he was involved in the production of over 40 films, including shorts and documentaries. He attained critical acclaim for directing “Close-Up” (1990), “The Wind Will Carry Us” (1999), and “Taste of Cherry” (1997). In later works, “Certified Copy” (2010) and “Like Someone in Love” (2012), he filmed for the first time outside Iran: in Italy and Japan, respectively.

He was part of a generation of filmmakers in the Iranian New Wave, a Persian cinema movement that started in the late 1960s and emphasized the use of poetic dialogue and allegorical storytelling dealing with philosophical issues. He is known for his use of Persian poetry in the dialogue, titles, and themes of his films. His films also contain a notable degree of ambiguity, an unusual mixture of simplicity and complexity, and often a mix of fictional and documentary elements. The concepts of change and continuity, in addition to the themes of life and death, play a major role in Kiarostami's works.

Kiarostami, the winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for his “Taste of Cherry”, died of cancer on July 5, 2016 at the age of 76.

Photo: A scene from “Two Solutions for One Problem” (1975) by Abbas Kiarostami.

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