Abbas Kirostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director. Kirostami is considered as one of the prominent directors of the Iranian new wave that began in 1969. Active since 1970, Kirostami has a body of work consisting of more than forty films, including shorts and documentaries. Kirostami refused to leave Iran as many of his peers did after the Islamic revolution. "When you take a tree that is rooted in the ground, and transfer it from one place to another, the tree will no longer bear fruit. And if it does, the fruit will not be as good as it was in its original place. This is a rule of nature. I think if I had left my country, I would be the same as the tree." -Abbas Kiarostami He won Cannes' Palme d'Or for his “Taste Of Cherries” (1997). Kirostami has been praised by many prominent directors like the French Jean-Luc Godard who said: “Film begins with D.W. Griffith and ends with Abbas Kirostami.” and Martin Scorsese: “Kiarostami represents the highest level of artistry in the cinema."