May
Abbas Kiarostami
Ten Minutes Older
What state are we transformed into while sleeping? What is taking place: a suspension of time, a loss of time, or a moment of youth being regained? What lives do we take on, what lands do we travel to? In this simple yet deeply poetic video installation, Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami incites a reflection on life-towards-death, micro-mutations in stillness, and the consciousness of time.
Ten Minutes Older was conceived as a commissioned work. An English production company had invited several filmmakers to direct a 10-minute short on the passing of time. I was inspired by a line in a poem: "The countdown to the day of my death begins on the day of my birth." Normally, one thinks the tragedy of aging begins when one has white hairs. In reality, an infant begins to age as soon as he comes to light. We're all heading for death, some passing through old age, other not. So I decided to concentrate those ten minutes of aging made available to me on a newborn infant. At the end of shooting the baby awoke and began to cry. I immediately thought he may have subconsciously realized that he'd just lost ten minutes of his life. And me too - every time I see the film I realize I've aged ten minutes watching it, as every spectator would. And this is my message to the spectator: "You've aged ten minutes." In real time. It's the only film where I've remained truly faithful to the theme assigned to me. But the production company thought I'd not done my job and rejected it. The installation then was first presented in Turin at The Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in the frame of the project On the Roads of Kiarostami. - Abbas Kiarostami (from an interview by Elisa Resegotti, Rome 10 July 2003).
Courtesy of the artist and Museo Nazionale del Cinema - Turin
A. Barbera / E. Resegotti
Abbas Kiarostami (1940, Tehran) has been making films since 1969. He received the Palme d'Or in Cannes in 1997. At this time, he began to explore new artistic territories: his first video installation premiered at the Venice Biennale and his photographs have been exhibited all over the world. He also experimented with theater and is currently working on an opera in Aix.
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