Godfrey Cheshire’s Book on Kiarostami Published

TEHRAN.(Iranart) – American critic and filmmaker Godfrey Cheshire’s book, Conversations with Kiarostami, has recently been published by Woodville Press, the Film Desk has announced.

The Iranian cinema expert has accumulated for the first time a far ranging series of interviews with the world-renowned Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami in the book. 

Conducted during the 1990s, these in-depth conversations offer a film-by-film account of Kiarostami’s views of his artistic development from his first short Bread and Alley in 1970 to the 1999 feature The Wind Will Carry Us.

It also covers his lesser known, and seldom written about, shorts from earlier in his career, along with the masterworks that made him world famous, such as the Koker Trilogy – Where Is the Friend’s House?, And Life Goes On and Through the Olive Trees – and Close-Up and Taste of Cherry.

In addition to an introduction from Cheshire, the book also carries a preface by Ahmad Kiarostami, the director’s son.

During Godfrey’s several visits to Iran throughout a decade, he formed a relationship with my father that I had rarely seen him having with other writers, Ahmad wrote in the foreword. 

I believe this is because of Godfrey’s ability to go beyond the surface; his unique views and interpretations… It is well-known that Godfrey was one of the first people who introduced the Iranian cinema to America and, yet, there is no trace of the usual ‘exotic’ approach… That is what you will find in this book: a refreshing conversation with Abbas that has substance, and is far from cliché, he added.

Source:Tehran Times