Who Is Abbas Kiarostami? Age, Biography and Wiki
Abbas Kiarostami was born on June 22, 1940, and he remains one of the most influential filmmakers in cinema history. His innovative storytelling and unique directorial style have made significant impacts on global cinema. Although he passed away in 2016, his legacy continues to influence filmmakers and audiences alike.
As of 2025, Kiarostami would have been 85 years old, had he lived. He is best known for films such as Taste of Cherry and The Wind Will Carry Us, which have been celebrated globally for their narrative complexity and philosophical depth.
| Occupation | Graphic Designer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | June 22, 1940 |
| Age | 76 Years |
| Birth Place | Tehran, Imperial State of Iran |
| Horoscope | Cancer |
| Country | France |
| Date of death | 4 July, 2016 |
| Died Place | Paris, France |
Popularity
Abbas Kiarostami's Popularity over time
Height, Weight & Measurements
Kiarostami was not particularly noted for his physical presence, as most attention was given to his work. However, details regarding his height and weight are less documented, emphasizing his preference for a life defined more by creative output than personal appearances.
Family, Dating & Relationship Status
Abbas Kiarostami was known to maintain a low profile concerning his personal life. He was married and had a family, including his children, but specific details about his spouse or significant other have largely remained private. This reflects his tendency to keep his personal relationships separate from his professional legacy.
In 1992, Kiarostami directed Life, and Nothing More..., regarded by critics as the second film of the Koker trilogy. The film follows a father and his young son as they drive from Tehran to Koker in search of two young boys who they fear might have perished in the 1990 earthquake.
As the father and son travel through the devastated landscape, they meet earthquake survivors forced to carry on with their lives amid disaster. That year Kiarostami won a Prix Roberto Rossellini, the first professional film award of his career, for his direction of the film.
The last film of the so-called Koker trilogy was Through the Olive Trees (1994), which expands a peripheral scene from Life and Nothing More into the central drama.
Critics such as Adrian Martin have called the style of filmmaking in the Koker trilogy as "diagrammatical", linking the zig-zagging patterns in the landscape and the geometry of forces of life and the world. A flashback of the zigzag path in Life and Nothing More...
(1992) in turn triggers the spectator's memory of the previous film, Where Is the Friend's Home? from 1987, shot before the earthquake. This symbolically links to the post-earthquake reconstruction in Through the Olive Trees in 1994. In 1995, Miramax Films released Through the Olive Trees in the US theaters.
Net Worth and Salary
While exact figures regarding Kiarostami’s net worth at the time of his death have not been disclosed, estimates suggest that he accumulated a substantial fortune through his film career and various awards. His films received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2025, discussions about his net worth continue to highlight his contribution to cinema and the financial success of his acclaimed works.
In March 2016, Kiarostami was hospitalized due to intestinal bleeding and reportedly went into a coma after undergoing two operations. Sources, including a Ministry of Health and Medical Education spokesman, reported that Kiarostami was suffering from gastrointestinal cancer.
On 3 April 2016, Reza Paydar, the director of Kiarostami's medical team, made a statement denying that the filmmaker had cancer. However, in late June he left Iran for treatment in a Paris hospital, where he died on 4 July 2016.
The week before his death, Kiarostami had been invited to join the Academy Awards in Hollywood as part of efforts to increase the diversity of its Oscar judges. Ali Ahani, Iran's ambassador to France stated that Kiarostami's body would be transferred to Iran to be buried at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery.
However, it was later announced that his body would be buried in Lavasan, a resort town about 40 km northeast of Tehran, based on his own will, after it was flown back to Tehran from Paris.
His body was returned to Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on 8 July 2016, while a crowd of Iranian film directors, actors, actresses and other artists were in Tehran airport to pay their respects.
Career, Business and Investments
Abbas Kiarostami’s career spanned four decades, during which he produced a body of work that was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. His films often explored themes of human connection and the complexity of Iranian society through a unique lens.
Kiarostami also engaged in photography, writing, and teaching, showcasing his diverse talents in the arts beyond filmmaking. His keen interest in visual storytelling and philosophy allowed him to create a timeless canon of work that continues to be studied and revered.
Kiarostami next wrote the screenplays for The Journey and The White Balloon (1995), for his former assistant Jafar Panahi. Between 1995 and 1996, he was involved in the production of Lumière and Company, a collaboration with 40 other film directors.
Social Network
Although Kiarostami passed away in 2016, his influence persists on social media and film-related platforms. Fans, filmmakers, and critics regularly share his work and discuss his impact on cinema. Accounts and hashtags dedicated to his life and films can be found across platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, where his legacy is honored through discussions, tributes, and screenings of his films.
Abbas Kiarostami (22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including shorts and documentaries.
Kiarostami attained critical acclaim for directing the Koker trilogy (1987–1994), Close-Up (1990), The Wind Will Carry Us (1999), and Taste of Cherry (1997), which was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival that year.
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. His films Where Is the Friend's House? (1987), Close-Up, and The Wind Will Carry Us were ranked among the 100 best foreign films in a 2018 critics' poll by BBC Culture.
Close-Up was also ranked one of the 50 greatest movies of all time in the famous decennial Sight & Sound poll conducted in 2012.
Education
Kiarostami’s education played a crucial role in shaping his filmmaking style. He studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tehran University, where he gained insights into the arts and developed his unique perspectives. His background allowed him to infuse his films with both visual beauty and philosophical depth, making him a distinctive figure in the film industry.
Kiarostami had a reputation for using child protagonists, for documentary-style narrative films, for stories that take place in rural villages, and for conversations that unfold inside cars, using stationary mounted cameras. He is also known for his use of Persian poetry in the dialogue, titles, and themes of his films.
Kiarostami's films 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.
