Iranian Filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami to Speak at JHU SAIS

Abbas Kiarostami, the award-winning Iranian film director, will discuss his work during a forum at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) on Friday, 04/20 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

The program includes the screenings of Close Up Kiarostami, a documentary about the challenges Kiarostami has faced as a contemporary Iranian filmmaker, and Tabaki, the latest documentary directed by Kiarostami's son, Bahman. Following the screenings, Abbas and Bahman Kiarostami will participate in a question and answer session with the audience.

Director of more than 20 films, Kiarostami won the 1997 Cannes Film Festival grand prize for Taste of Cherry.

The event, which is open to the public, will be held in the school's Nitze Building Kenney Auditorium, 1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C.

Co-hosted by the Foundation for Iranian Studies, this event is in conjunction with "Encounters with Abbas Kiarostami: Film Festival" co-sponsored by SAIS, the Freer Gallery of Art and the National Gallery of Art during 03/and April.

For more information, contact Felisa Klubes in the SAIS Public Affairs Office at (202) 663-5626 or [email protected].