Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami to lead Asian Film Academy at PIFF

Acclaimed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami will be leading the Asian Film Academy (AFA) at the 15th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), to be held in October in Korea.

PIFF's organizing committee announced through a press release on Monday that Kiarostami will be serving as the dean of AFA while Japanese filmmaker Naoko Ogigami and Korean cinematographer Kim Hyung-gu have been named directing mentor and cinematography mentor, respectively.

The Asian Film Academy, held in cooperation with the Pusan International Film Festival and Dongseo University, was established in 2005. The academy has since produced 123 graduates from 24 different Asian countries, who have gone onto become rising Asian film directors and have had their features invited to Rotterdam, Berlin and Cannes film fests.

This year, the AFA will run for 17 days, from September 30 to October 16, with 24 students from 16 different countries. Under the constructive guidelines from the mentors and the dean, the programs are especially designed to focus on teaching and sharing knowledge on the present film production environment and philosophy.

During the AFA term, students will produce two self-scripted short films which will be screened at the PIFF. In addition, there will be workshops for varying aspects of filmmaking, a master class and mentoring session and special seminars.

In previous years, AFA deans were chaired by Asian filmmakers Hou Hsiao Hsien (2005), Im Kwon-taek (2006), Mohsen Makhmalbaf (2007), Hou Hsiao Hsien (2008) and Kurosawa Kiyoshi (2009).

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1940, Abbas Kiarostami majored in painting and graphic design at the Tehran University of Fine Arts and worked in advertising in the 1960s.

Part of a leading generation of filmmakers in the Iranian new Wave and a Persian movement that started in the late 1960s, he is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, producer, and photographer.

His 1987 film "Where is the Friend’s Home?" gained international recognition when it was awarded with the Bronze Leopard of the Locarno International Film Festival.

He has since produced many notable films including "And Life Goes On" (1992), "Through the Olive Trees" (1994), "Taste of Cherry" (1997), for which he won the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival, and "The Wind Will Carry Us" (1999), the Grand Jury Prize winner at the Venice International Film Festival.

Kiarostami surprised the world yet again at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival with his latest pic "Certified Copy" (2010), for which French film star Juliette Binoche won the best actress award.

PIFF will be held in the city of Pusan from October 7 to October 15.

Reporter : Lynn Kim lynn2878@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@