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Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami dies at age 76

July 4, 2016

The acclaimed director, who won the 1997 Palme d'Or for "Taste of Cherry," passed away from cancer in France. He had left Iran last week for medical treatment.

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Abbas Kiarostami
Image: picture alliance/INFOPHOTO

Kiarostami's death was confirmed by Iranian media on Monday night, just days after he traveled to Paris for treatment for gastroinstestinal cancer. The 76-year-old had undergone sugery in Iran earlier this year.

His 1997 film "Taste of Cherry" won the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which told the story of an Iranian man looking for someone to bury him after he commits suicide.

One of the brightest stars of Iran's cinema, Kiarostami was born in Tehran in 1940 and rose from relatively humble origins to become part of the so-called Iranian New Wave of cinema in the 1960s.

He wrote and directed dozens of films over a career spanning more than 40 years, staying on in his country after the Islamic revolution in 1979. But over the past decade he worked internationally, including writing and directing "Certified Copy," a 2010 film starring Juliette Binoche.

The news agency IRNA reported that he had undergone several unsuccessful operations in Iran between February and April, and that his body would be repatriated for burial.

He was survived by two sons, Ahmad and Bahman Kiarostami, who work in multimedia and documentary film.

mm/jr (AP, AFP)