By Babak DehghanpishehBEIRUT (Reuters) - Abbas Kiarostami, the writer-director who showed that Iranian cinema was one of the most original and emotionally engaging in the world, died in Paris on Monday from complications related to cancer, according to Iranian state media. American director Martin Scorsese said of his work: "Kiarostami represents the highest level of artistry in the cinema." Born in Tehran in 1940, Kiarostami studied at the School of Fine Arts at Tehran University. Despite their very local, Iranian themes, his movies struck a chord with global audiences, and Kiarostami won the Palmes d’Or at Cannes in 1997 for "Taste of Cherry", about a middle-aged Iranian man planning to commit suicide and looking for someone to bury him when he is dead. (This version of the story has been refiled to change dateline to BEIRUT, pvs PARIS)(Editing by Robin Pomeroy, Larry King)

Source: Huffington Post July 04, 2016 21:37 UTC