Legendary Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's house damaged in Tehran airstrike

The house of Abbas Kiarostami, the famous Iranian director and winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival, was damaged in an airstrike in the Chizar district of Tehran.

According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international cinema journalist,Ahmad Kiarostami, son of Abbas Kiarostami, announced: “Last night, the Chizar neighborhood was bombed, where both my mother's and my father's houses are located. Last night, my mother called and, in a shaky and broken voice, gave me news of her well-being, but this morning I learned that my father's house was damaged.”

Kiarostami's eldest son said: “I was 6 or 7 years old when we moved to this house, just a few months before the revolution in 1979, a house that my father always said was the most peaceful place in the world.”

Kiarostami was one of Iran’s most renowned filmmakers, winner of numerous international prizes including the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for “Taste of Cherry”. Along with that film, Kiarostami earned slots in competition at Cannes for his 1994 film “Through the Olive Trees”, 2010’s “Certified Copy”, and 2012’s Like Someone in Love. He won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his 1999 drama “The Wind Will Carry Us”.

Abbas Kiarostami, who died in 2016, was one of Iran’s most acclaimed directors. His international work included the 2010 French drama “Certified Copy” starring Juliette Binoche.

Sites of cultural and historical importance in Iran have been hit since the U.S. and Israel launched a coordinated air campaign against the country in late February, damaging palaces and an ancient mosque, according to PBS, and “raising alarms about the impact of the widening war on protected landmarks that are important to Iranian identity and world history.”

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Mansour Jahani

Independent Journalist