For a select group of students, being able to work with Abbas Kiarostami, filmmaker, poet, video artist and photographer is nothing short of “a miracle.”

Owen Shapiro, artistic director of the Syracuse International Film Festival and professor in the Syracuse University Department of Transmedia, called Kiarostami one of the most influential filmmakers in the industry.

“Filmmakers know him and are very influenced by him,” Shapiro said.

Kiarostami, who hails from Iran, is conducting workshops and giving guest lectures with College of Visual and Performing Arts students for two weeks, which began Monday. Shapiro is coordinating Kiarostami’s visit. Two SU art and design graduate students, June Kyu Park and Tian Guan, are in charge of managing the workshops.

About 20 students will be participating in the workshops. Every student will be required to make a short film while being guided by Kiarostami. In addition to Kiarostami, seven other guest lecturers will come to Syracuse from places across the country such as Virginia, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City to work with students for the two-week workshop.

“It will be very hands-on, but it’ll also be philosophic and aesthetic,” Shapiro said, although he wouldn’t divulge everything the students will learn during the two weeks.

Kiarostami is an awarded and unconventional film director who is highly celebrated internationally for being controversial and influential, according to a press release from the Syracuse International Film Festival.

In his films, Kiarostami uses simplicity to explore complex human issues. He is influenced by the people around him and stresses the importance of material over technique, according to the release.

Kiarostami said he uses an improvisational approach with his actors.

“I think that technique for technique’s sake is a big lie, as it doesn’t answer real feelings and real needs,” he said in the release.

Shapiro compared film students working with Kiarostami to somebody studying piano working with somebody like Arthur Rubinstein, a famous classical pianist. It is an honor for the students who are so inspired by film to practice their passion with someone so influential and professional, he said.

Hannah Crowell, a sophomore film major, said in an email it’s important for students to gain hands-on experience, saying it’s the best way to learn about film.

Although she is not participating in the workshop, Crowell said she would be very interested in participating in something similar in the future.

“It’s a great way to get experience and advice from someone who is ‘in the business.’ You can lecture and show students work and discuss it as much as they’d like, but you will not really understand and you will not really grow as a filmmaker until you get hands on experience,” Crowell said, referring to the professors working with students.

Shapiro mentioned one student in particular, who is currently studying abroad in the Prague film program for the spring semester and is extremely influenced by Kiarostami’s work. The student is coming to Syracuse for the two weeks of the workshop.

“We have people making those kind of sacrifices to study with him,” Shapiro said, emphasizing the influence and importance of Kiarostami within the world of film.

Kiarostami will also present a film screening in SU’s Watson Theater on April 1 and April 9 at 7:30 p.m., free of charge and open to the public and students. On April 10, Kiarostami will present a reading of his poetry, free of charge, at the Point of Contact Gallery in the Syracuse University Warehouse at 6:00 p.m. as part of the series of poetry readings called “Cruel April.”

Published on April 1, 2014 at 1:53 am