24 Frames: An Experimental Film on Photography by Influential Iranian Director Abbas Kiarostami

Description

“One day when I had nothing to do, I bought a cheap Yashica and went out into nature. I wanted to be at one with it. At the same time, I wanted to share with others the pleasant moments that I witnessed. That is why I began taking pictures. To somehow eternalise those moments of passion and pain…”

Photography always had a special place in the life of influential Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami (1940-2016). After graduating from the School of Fine Arts in Tehran in 1960, Kiarostami began to capture still life and Iranian landscapes.

As his protean oeuvre grew, he accumulated hundreds of prints, shown during special exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou and the MoMA in 2007. In his last film, 24 Frames (2017), Kiarostami took up the challenge of creating a dialogue between his work as a filmmaker and as a photographer, building bridges between the two artistic expressions to which he dedicated his life.

24 Frames deals with both artistic and metaphysical questions. What happens in the moments before and after a photograph is taken? What imaginary hereafter does an image conceal? In order to find an answer, Kiarostami selected twenty photographs from his personal collection, which he then animated and staged.

Using digital tools, discreet 3D inserts and green screens, he resurrected those images of the past and tried to rediscover the emotions he felt when taking them.