Kiarostami's Films Introduced Japan to Iranian Society

Abbas Kiarostami, the great filmmaker and artist of Iran and the world, made his last cinematic work titled 'Like Someone in Love' in Japan with all Japanese crew and actors. Radio Farda spoke with Shozo Ichiyama, the secretary of the Tokyo Filmex Festival in Japan, about the role of Kiarostami's works in familiarizing the Japanese people with Iran and the impact of his works on the cinema of this country. Kiarostami's films have had a significant impact on Japanese audiences and filmmakers. Before watching these types of films, we knew nothing about Iranian cinema; in other words, we were not familiar with any details of Iranian society. It was not just the subject matter of his films that was appealing, but his unique filmmaking style, a new realism that had a tremendous impact on us. I am sure that some filmmakers who watched Kiarostami's films in the 1990s and are now in their 40s or 50s have been greatly influenced by him. The first time the Japanese people became acquainted with Kiarostami and his works was, as far as I remember, at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 1990 when Kiarostami's film 'Close-Up' was screened. I believe he did not attend that festival, but after his film was screened there, a large number of reviews were written about it, and people were amazed by the film. Then in 1992, at the Tokyo International Film Festival, Kiarostami's film 'And Life Goes On' was screened in the competition section, and he attended the festival. Therefore, these two works, especially 'And Life Goes On,' had a significant impact on Japanese audiences. After the screenings of 'And Life Goes On' and 'Where Is the Friend's Home?' by the Japanese distributor Eurospace, this marked the beginning of the continued screening of his films in Japan. Kiarostami was also indebted to Japanese cinema, right? Yes. I have often talked with him about classic Japanese films. He said he loved the works of Yasujirō Ozu. Kiarostami, who had seen Ozu's films, said that he was his favorite filmmaker. He also liked Akira Kurosawa's films and had met and interviewed Kurosawa himself. Kiarostami traveled to Japan frequently and collaborated with Japanese festivals. Of course, you have collaborated with him, but what is your opinion about his personality and his works? In fact, when I was working at the Tokyo International Film Festival, I screened three of Kiarostami's films titled 'And Life Goes On,' 'Through the Olive Trees,' and 'Taste of Cherry.' After that, when I started working at 'Tokyo Filmex,' I invited him as a guest and screened Kiarostami's film 'Certified Copy,' which had just been shown in Italy, in Japan. That same year, we asked him to give a lecture for young Asian talents. Therefore, we held an advanced filmmaking workshop that was very impactful. He was very eager to teach and express his filmmaking style to these young filmmakers. He spent many hours with the filmmakers who participated in the workshop. His enthusiasm for teaching these young filmmakers was, in my opinion, very admirable. One of his films, titled 'Like Someone in Love,' was made with the Japanese; what was its reflection in Japan? After the screening of this film in Japan, he traveled to Japan several times for festivals and promotions. He had many Japanese friends in Japan, and it is likely that he screened this film here for that reason. After making the film 'Ten' in Iran, he no longer had an interest in filmmaking there. After that, he screened 'Certified Copy' in Italy and then 'Like Someone in Love' in Tokyo. Regarding this film, I must say that it actually showcases contemporary Japan, but the perspectives of Tokyo and Japan that you see in this film are very different. It can be said that this contemporary Tokyo is likely from Kiarostami's viewpoint. He was the only Iranian among all the crew members of this film, and the rest, from the actors to other staff, were Japanese. He created such a masterpiece under these circumstances. This is a very unique film that only Kiarostami could create.