Jan. 22 marked the beginning of the 21st annual Iranian Film Festival. The festival, normally held at the Freer Gallery of Art, will screen films at the AFI Silver Theatre and the National Gallery of Art due to the Freer Gallery’s ongoing renovations.
Featured films include newer works such as The Salesman and Radio Dreams, both released in 2016. The festival will also pay tribute to the late filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, who passed away in mid-2016, by screening several of his films, including Taste of Cherry, which won the Palme d’Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. In addition, on Feb. 26 the National Gallery of Art will show a documentary on Kiarostami titled 76 Minutes and 15 Seconds with Kiarostami, created by his friend and longtime collaborator Seifollah Samadian. A screening of Kiarostami’s final work, Take Me Home, and a discussion led by authors Paul Cronin and Hamid Dabashi will precede the event.
The festival will run through all of February and will screen the final film on March 1. Admission is free for all events. To find a detailed schedule of the festival as well as more information about the different films, check the Freer Gallery website.