Abbas Kiarostami’s Early Films at Kanoon

Abbas Kiarostami wasn’t always known as a master of cinema. Shirvanlou first knew him as an employee at an advertising agency, where Kiarostami created TV commercials and designed graphics. He’d originally studied painting, but he also crafted striking title sequences for Iranian films – both mainstream and New Wave. After Shirvanlou brought him to Kanoon, Kiarostami helped transform its film department. it became a haven for artistic freedom, something often missing in Iranian cinema, which was largely controlled by small studios and a star system. Kanoon was also a rare place where truly original animated shorts could flourish.

Many histories categorize Kanoon’s films as being *for* children, *with* children, or *about* children, aimed at adults. But that’s not quite right. There wasn’t a formal system like that. Teh key was freedom. Filmmakers could create what they wanted – even films that weren’t about or for kids, like Close-up – based on brief synopses. Producers only decided where a film woudl be shown – Kanoon centers, festivals, or TV – after they’d seen it. Actually, I saw my first Kiarostami film, Where Is the Friend’s House?, on television, and it felt made for me. Then, seeing close-up on TV at fifteen, I understood it and was deeply moved.

This freedom allowed kiarostami to move easily between educational shorts, art-house films, and investigative documentaries. He could even shift tones, with his fictional work sometimes challenging the hope found in his educational films. But it wasn’t random. There’s a clear, distinctive voice in everything he did.

Rather of looking at kiarostami’s Kanoon films in order,it’s more helpful to group them by the major styles and themes they introduced to his cinema.