SON OF IRANIAN DIRECTOR KIAROSTAMI IS PUNISHED

The son of famed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami is the latest filmmaker to find himself disciplined by his country’s authoritarian regime. Bahman Kiarostami, himself a noted cinematographer, editor, and documentary filmmaker, recently had his passport suspended for a year, the elder Kiarostami told the Los Angeles Times. When he asked why, he was told that it was because he had committed “a serious crime,” but he was unable to learn anything further, Abbas Kiarostami said. He added that he had advised Bahman to appeal the action but that the son had rejected his advice, concerned that the authorities would extend the suspension if he challenged it. Kiarostami told the newspaper that while he himself has no plans to return to Iran to make films — his latest film, Like Someone in Love, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival last month, was set in Japan, and his previous film, Certified Copy, was set in France — he believes “there are talented artists [in Iran] who will find a way” — to find a path around Iran’s tough restrictions, particularly younger directors.