Cinema East: 'Taste of Cherry' at Pickford Film Center

The next film in the Cinema East film series at Pickford Film Center (1318 Bay Street) is Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry, which screens on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at 7:45 p.m., and is described by the Pickford as being “an emotionally complex meditation on life and death.” 

In the film a middle-aged man named Mr. Badii, played by Homayoun Ershadi, drives through the hilly outskirts of Tehran searching for someone he can pay who will agree to bury him after he ends his life. The Criterion Collection explains the film as: “Operating at once as a closely observed, realistic story and a fable populated by archetypal figures,” which “challenges the viewer to consider what often goes unexamined in everyday life.” 

Written, directed, edited, and produced by Abbas Kiarostami, Taste of Cherry was also the first Iranian film to win the Palme d’Or, which it was awarded at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.  

The Cinema East film series is co-presented by Western Libraries and Pickford Film Center, with film selections curated by WWU librarian Jeff Purdue. Films are often accompanied by introductions from educators and experts. Taste of Cherry will be introduced by Professor of Film Studies at WWU Eren Odabasi.  

For more information about the Cinema East series, please see the PFC website, or contact Jeff Purdue at: purduej@wwu.edu, (360)-650-7750. All PFC theaters are ADA accessible with wheelchair seating, and closed captioning and assistive listening devices are available at the box office. For questions about or to request disability accommodation, please contact Meghan Schilling, meghan@pickfordfilmcenter.org.  

[Image Description: A silhouette of a tree with a person’s eyes juxtaposed over the tree branches against a yellow background with the words “Taste of Cherry” beneath the tree.]