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Abbas Kiarostami, the award-winning Iranian film director who brought Iranian cinema worldwide acclaim, died on Monday at age 76. He navigated the perils of filming in Iran after the Islamic Revolution, making more than 40 films that provided 鈥渁 breath of fresh air in international cinema.鈥� His 1997 film 鈥淭aste of Cherry鈥� won the Palme d鈥橭r, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Iranian news agency IRNA reported that Mr. Kiarostami died in Paris.

While Kiarostami brought Iranian cinema a global reputation, his work was never widely seen in his homeland.

鈥淭aste of Cherry鈥� was banned in Iran. It鈥檚 a minimalist film about a man looking for someone to bury him after his suicide, 鈥渂ut in truth,鈥� Kiarostami said in 2014, 鈥渋t is a suggestion to live.鈥�

鈥淜iarostami gave the Iranian cinema the international credibility that it has today,鈥� Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf told the Guardian. 鈥淏ut his films were unfortunately not seen as much in Iran. He changed the world鈥檚 cinema; he freshened it and humanised it in contrast with Hollywood鈥檚 rough version.鈥�

鈥淗e was a man of life, who enjoyed living and made films in praise of life 鈥� that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so difficult to come to terms with his death,鈥� Mr. Makhmalbaf continued.

Kiarostami found his calling running the film department at Kanun, the Centre for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, where he worked for two decades and created his first feature, "The Report," in 1977.

鈥淲e were supposed to make films that dealt with childhood problems. At the beginning it was just a job, but it was the making of me as an artist,鈥� Kiarostami told the Guardian in 2005.

Kiarostami originally worked to accommodate tightened censorship following the Islamic Revolution. Unlike many of his film industry peers, Kiarostami decided to remain in Iran after the revolution, likening himself to 鈥渁 tree that is rooted in the ground.鈥� 鈥淸If you] transfer it from one place to another, the tree will no longer bear fruit.... If I had left my country, I would be the same as the tree.鈥�

The 1990 film "Close-Up" is a quintessential example of Kiarostami鈥檚 innovative cinema that has resonated with viewers around the world and 鈥減erhaps the emblematic work of the so-called Iranian New Wave.鈥� Half scripted, half documentary, with some actors playing themselves, it tells the true story of a man who impersonated a filmmaker and conned a family into believing they would star in his new film.

Kiarostami waded deeper into controversy with his 2002 film "Ten," a docufiction that follows a divorced female taxi driver in Tehran conversing with various passengers. The movie was also nominated for a Palme D鈥橭r.

Towards the end of his career, it became increasingly difficult politically for Kiarostami to work in Iran and he expanded to become a cosmopolitan filmmaker, shooting a documentary about children鈥檚 education in Uganda and filming his last two films abroad, in Italy and Japan. The sensitivity and intellectual rigor of his films transcended borders.

"He was a very special human being: quiet, elegant, modest, articulate, and quite observant. I don't think he missed anything. Our paths crossed too seldom, and I was always glad when they did. He was a true gentleman and, truly, one of our great artists,鈥� filmmaker Martin Scorsese told the Associated Press.