Asghar Farhadi | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Farhadi at the 2018Stockholm International Film Festival | |
| Born | (1972-05-07)7 May 1972 (age 53) |
| Alma mater | University of Tehran Tarbiat Modares University |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1997–present |
| Notable work | About Elly (2009) A Separation (2011) The Past (2013) The Salesman (2016) Everybody Knows (2018) A Hero (2021) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2, includingSarina Farhadi |
Asghar Farhadi (Persian:اصغر فرهادی[æsˈɢæɾɛfæɾhɑːˈdiː]ⓘ; born 7 May 1972)[1] is an Iranianfilm director andscreenwriter. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers ofIranian cinema as well asworld cinema in the 21st century. His films have gained recognition for their focus on the human condition, and portrayals of intimate and challenging stories of internal family conflicts. In 2012, he was included on the annualTime 100 list of the most influential people in the world.[2] That same year, he also received theLegion of Honour from France.
Farhadi made his directorial film debut with thedramaDancing in the Dust (2003), followed byThe Beautiful City (2004) andFireworks Wednesday (2006). He gained acclaim for his filmAbout Elly (2009) earning aSilver Bear for Best Director. He became one of the few directors worldwide to have won theAcademy Award for Best International Feature Film twice, for the family dramaA Separation (2011) and the moral dramaThe Salesman (2016), the latter of which also received theCannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay.
He also earned acclaim for his filmsThe Past (2013), which was filmed in France, andEverybody Knows (2018), which was filmed in Spain. Farhadi returned to Iran withA Hero (2021), which earned him theCannes Film Festival's Grand Prix.[3]
Farhadi was born inHomayoon Shahr, a city located in theIsfahan province near thecity ofIsfahan.[4] At the age of 15, in 1987, he joined the Isfahan branch office of theIranian Youth Cinema Society, which had been established 4 years earlier and he made several short films.[5] He is also a graduate of theatre, with aBA in dramatic arts andMA instage direction fromUniversity of Tehran andTarbiat Modares University, respectively.[6]
At the start of his career, Farhadi made numerous short8 mm and16 mm films in the Isfahan branch of the Iranian Young Cinema Society before moving on to writing plays and screenplays forIRIB. He also directed such TV series asA Tale of a City and co-wrote the screenplay forEbrahim Hatamikia'sLow Heights. In 2003, Farhadi made his feature film debut withDancing in the Dust about a man having trouble raising money for his marriage dowry installements.[7] Deborah Young ofVariety praised Farhadi as an emerging filmmaker writing, "Dispensing with heavyhanded symbolism, Farhadi tells the tale engrossingly and with a lot of physicality through the two main actors".[8] The film earned Farhadi a nomination at the25th Moscow International Film Festival and three awards at theAsia-Pacific Film Festival including Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor forFaramarz Gharibian.
Farhadi's sophomore effort wasThe Beautiful City about a man celebrating his 18th birthday in a detention center while being in prison for murder.The film won praise for Farhadi's intricate commentary on Iran'sIslamic judicial system. Ronnie Scheib ofVariety wrote, "Farhadi launches a simple-seeming quest through all manner of obstacles and complications, each detour greatly altering the nature of the journey".[9] Farhadi won the Grand Prix at theWarsaw Film Festival. With his third film,Fireworks Wednesday, Farhadi won the Gold Hugo at the 2006Chicago International Film Festival. Set amongst the days before thePersian New Year, people set off fireworks following an ancientZoroastrian tradition. A domestic dispute ensues. Geoff Andrew ofTime Out declared, "What distinguishes the film is the way Farhadi keeps us guessing from as to what exactly is happening and why; repeatedly shifting our point of view, he forces us to question our assumptions about characters and their reliability. This compelling, corrosive account of male-female relationships in today's Tehran is tempered by genuine compassion for the individuals concerned; wisely, Farhadi never serves judgement on them in their troubled pursuit of truth, love and happiness. Intelligent, illuminating and directed with unflashy expertise."[10]
In 2009, Farhadi directed his fourth film,About Elly which tacklesmiddle-class families inIran. The film earned critical acclaim withPeter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian describing it as "an absorbing picture, powerfully acted, disturbing and suspenseful". He also compared the film toRoman Polanski'sKnife in the Water (1962) andMichaelangelo Antonioni'sL'Avventura (1960) adding, "Farhadi also hasMichael Haneke's beady eye for the dynamics and symptoms of group guilt."[11] The film won Farhadi theSilver Bear for Best Director at the 59th InternationalBerlin Film Festival and also Best Picture at theTribeca Film Festival. The latter film is about a group ofIranians who take a trip to the Iranian beaches ofCaspian Sea that turns tragic.Film theorist and criticDavid Bordwell has calledAbout Elly a masterpiece.[12]
His filmA Separation premiered on 9 February 2011 at the 29thFajr International Film Festival inTehran and received critical acclaim from the Iran Society of Film Critics. It earned Farhadi four awards, including Best Director (for the third time afterFireworks Wednesday andAbout Elly). On 15 February 2011, it also played in competition at the61st Berlin International Film Festival, which received aGolden Bear for best film, becoming the first Iranian film to win that award. In June 2011,A Separation won theSydney Film Prize in competition withThe Tree of Life, directed byTerrence Malick.[13] It also won the Best Film award at the 2011Asia Pacific Screen Awards.Roger Ebert praised the Farhadi's on his nuanced depiction of Iranian culture writing, "[He] provides a useful portrait of Iran today. Some inflamed American political rhetoric has portrayed it as a rogue nation eager to start nuclear war...this film portrays a more nuanced nation, and its decent characters are trying to do the right thing. To untangle right and wrong in this fascinating story is a moral challenge."[14]Bob Mondello ofNPR also praised Farhadi writing, "Consider[ing] how heavily censored filmmakers are in Iran, director Asghar Farhadi's accomplishment starts to seem downright astonishing". Mondello described the film as "a beautifully crafted [and] fascinating film".[15]
On 19 December 2011, Farhadi was announced as being ajury member for the62nd Berlin International Film Festival, which was held in February 2012.[16] On 15 January 2012,A Separation won theGolden Globe for the Best Foreign Language Film.[17] The film was also the official Iranian submission for theBest Foreign Language Film at the2012 Academy Awards where, in addition to beingnominated[18] in this category, it was also nominated in theBest Original Screenplay category. On 26 February 2012,A Separation became the first Iranian movie to win theAcademy Award for Best International Feature Film, at the84th Academy Awards. This marked Farhadi as the first Iranian to have won anAcademy Award in any competitive category.[19] Farhadi also received praised for his film fromSteven Spielberg,David Fincher,Meryl Streep andWoody Allen.[20] He was invited to join theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012, along with 175 other members.[21]A Separation also won theCésar Award for Best Foreign Film and theIndependent Spirit Award for Best International Film in 2012.
In 2013, Farhadi's filmThe Past starringBérénice Bejo andTahar Rahim was released. This would be Farhadi's first film in the French language. The film competed for thePalme d'Or at the2013 Cannes Film Festival.[22] Bejo won theBest Actress Award at Cannes for her performance in the film.[23][24] The film received critical acclaim. It holds a 93% rating onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, based on 144 reviews with aweighted average score of 8.2/10 and the site's consensus: "Beautifully written, sensitively directed, and powerfully acted,The Past serves as another compelling testament to Asghar Farhadi's gift for finely layered drama."[25] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 85 out of 100 based on 41 reviews.[26] The film received aGolden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was selected as the Iranian entry for theBest Foreign Language Film at the86th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[27]
His 2016 filmThe Salesman, starringShahab Hosseini andTaraneh Alidoosti, competed for thePalme d'Or at the2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it won two awards:Best Actor for Shahab Hosseini andBest Screenplay for Farhadi.[28] The film revolves around a married couple whose life is upended after the wife isassaulted. The human attempted to find the attacker while she struggles to cope withpost-traumatic stress. During this the husband attempts to performArthur Miller's 1949 playDeath of a Salesman on stage. Farhadi chose Miller's play as hisstory within a story based on shared themes. He also compared the film to theGeorge Stevens filmA Place in the Sun (1951).[29] The film was a co-production between Iran and France, the film was shot inTehran, beginning in 2015. David Sims ofThe Atlantic praised Farhadi writing, "Rather, he wants to explore the terrifying speed with which conflict can disrupt our mundane lives, and the unconscious need we possess to slip into more outsized roles." Sims added "The Salesman is a typically wrenching film one that morphs from a quiet family drama to a low-key tale of revenge, and is all the more impressive for how seamlessly it executes that shift."[30]
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On 26 February 2017, Farhadi won his secondOscar forAcademy Award for Best International Feature Film forThe Salesman at the89th Academy Awards.The Salesman had already won the award for theBest Screenplay at theCannes Film Festival. Following the thenPresident of the United States of AmericaDonald Trump'sexecutive order barring Iranians from entering the country, Farhadi said he would not attend the 2017 Academy Awards, despite being nominated and winning for the best foreign-language film.[31] He announced that two prominent Iranian Americans,Anousheh Ansari andFirouz Naderi would represent him in the ceremony.[4] Anousheh Ansari is famed for being the first female space tourist and first Iranian in space, and Naderi as director of Solar Systems Exploration atNASA.[32] A few hours before the ceremony, he addressed a group of protesters in London via a video link from Iran. The Mayor of London,Sadiq Khan, screened the movie publicly inTrafalgar Square as a celebration of the city's diversity.[33] "This solidarity is off to a great start", he told them. "I hope this movement will continue and spread, for it has within itself the power to stand up to fascism, be victorious in the face of extremism and say no to oppressive political powers everywhere."[34]
After winning theAcademy Award for the second time, Farhadi had a prepared statement read byAnousheh Ansari. "I'm sorry I'm not with you tonight", Farhadi's statement read. "My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of the other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S. Dividing the world into us and our enemies categories creates fear, a deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries that have been victims of aggression. Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others -- an empathy that we need today more than ever." Before the ceremony, all five directors nominated for foreign language film issued a joint statement, obtained byUSA Today, that condemned "the climate of fanaticism and nationalism" in the United States, among other countries. The directors – Farhadi,Maren Ade (Toni Erdmann),Hannes Holm (A Man Called Ove),Martin Zandvliet (Land of Mine) andBentley Dean andMartin Butler (Tanna) – said that no matter which film wins, the Oscar is dedicated to "all the people, artists, journalists and activists who are working to foster unity and understanding, and who uphold freedom of expression and human dignity – values whose protection is now more important than ever."[35]
In 2018, Farhadi directed his eighth feature film titled,Everybody Knows starringJavier Bardem,Penélope Cruz andRicardo Darin. The film, a Spanish psychological thriller, debuted at the71st Cannes Film Festival where it played in the competition for thePalme d'Or. At the Toronto premiere ofEverybody Knows, the director shared withIkon London Magazine his plans to "Come to London West End with his play". He said "I know there is a lot of great plays every day. And I wish one day I do a play there. It is not far. It is our plan."[36] The film has earned critical acclaim earning a 78% onRotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the two leads but adding that the film is below Farhadi's usually high standards.[37]
A Hero is Farhadi's 9th feature film. Alexandre Mallet-Guy co-produced the work. This film was shot inMarvdasht, Iran, and narrates a social theme. In this film,Amir Jadidi,Mohsen Tanabandeh,Fereshteh Sadre Orafaee,Sarina Farhadi and Sahar Goldoust play roles. The film was introduced as the representative of Iranian cinema on 20 October 2021, to compete in the 94th Academy Awards.[38]
In April 2022,The Hollywood Reporter mistakenly reported that Farhadi had been found guilty, when in fact he was indicted by an Iranian court on charges of plagiarism for allegedly stealing the premise forA Hero from an earlier documentary made by Azadeh Masihzadeh, a former film student of Farhadi.[39] In October 2022,The New Yorker published an article, which included more information about the case and exclusive interviews with those who had previously worked with Farhadi.[40] The case came before the criminal court; if he had been convicted, Farhadi could have faced up to three years in prison.[40] In March 2024, an Iranian court issued a verdict acquitting Farhadi of the plagiarism allegations, based on the review by severalUniversity of Tehran copyright law experts and other experts.[41][42]
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Farhadi's films present a microcosm of modernIran and explore the inevitable complications that arise viaclass,gender, andreligious differences. For example, his 2011 filmA Separation portrays various intractable conflicts and arguments that force the characters to reflect on themoral grounds of their own decisions.
In her article, "Through the Looking Glass: Reflexive Cinema and Society in Post-Revolution Iran", Norma Claire Moruzzi writes:
In contrast, Farhadi'sA Separation treats the life-as-elsewhere dream as one strand of a complex and multi-layered story. Farhadi's films are nuanced portraits of the cross-cutting relations among classes, genders, and social groups. They are ambivalent explorations of small personal choices' implications on the delicate web of individual connections that make up any social network, carefully crafted and beautifully acted.[43]
The film criticRoger Ebert in his Movie Yearbook 2013, writes this about Farhadi's craft depicting social relations:
"The writer-director, Asghar Farhadi, tells his story with a fair and even hand. His only agenda seems to be to express empathy.A Separation provides a good portrait of Iran today . . . [T]his film portrays a more nuanced nation, and its decent characters are trying to do the right thing" (532). "The intriguing thing about his screenplay is that it gets us deeply involved, yet never tells us who it thinks is right or wrong" (703).[44]
In the introduction to her 2014 bookAsghar Farhadi: Life and Cinema, film critic Tina Hassannia writes:[45]
[Farhadi's] social realism—observations on the culture at large driven through a documentary-like lens—is skilfully effaced by a highly refined version of the melodrama. Yet his social commentary—though bleak, sometimes damning—never feels didactic or punishing.
In Farhadi's films, Iran is depicted as having a rigid class system that endures across the history of pre- and post-revolutionary Iran. Farhadi films the complexities of everyday life in contemporary Iran, focusing on how diverse perspectives are embedded within social structures such as class and gender. Farhadi has his style like "open ending movies", being realistic and "narrative gaps".[46]
Farhadi's films frequently criticize divisions in Iranian society along class, gender and religious lines. However, they are notable for their subtlety of treatment. Farhadi himself has never rejected Iran, most of his films are deeply rooted in urban Iranian society, and he has frequently expressed his commitment to the country and its people, most notably on the two occasions he won theAcademy Award. When he picked up the award forA Separation, he dedicated the win to the Iranian nation. WhenThe Salesman won the prize a few years later, Farhadi declined to attend the event in protest of theTrump travel ban.[47]
What is less noticed is his veiled criticism of religious standards in Iran. His debut featureDancing in the Dust opens with the Islamic invocationBismillahir Rahmanir Rahim (In the name of Allah, the most benevolent, the most merciful) just as a hand cleans a car window to reveal a large statue of a man, situated on a pedestal in the street. Idolatry is forbidden in Islam, and the construction of human statues is likewise discouraged in strict interpretations. For his second film,Beautiful City, Farhadi repeated a similar cinematic trick; as a prison loudspeaker blares out theBismillah phrase, it is revealed that a young man is carving human figurines. Neither film has been released in the West, and they have not been seen as widely as his latter films.[48]
In 2012, Farhadi participated in that year'sSight & Sound film polls. Held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, contemporary directors were asked to select ten films. Farhadi's choices are listed below:[49]
In 2022,The New Yorker reported allegations of Farhadi plagiarizing many of his films' ideas, and stealing from students of a workshop he mentored decades earlier. Farhadi denied the allegations addressing them at the2022 Cannes Film Festival when he served as a juror.[50]
In March 2024, an Iranian court issued a verdict acquitting Farhadi of the plagiarism allegations, based on the review by severalUniversity of Tehran copyright law experts and other experts.[51][52]
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Dancing in the Dust | رقص در غبار | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2004 | The Beautiful City | شهر زیبا | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2006 | Fireworks Wednesday | چهارشنبه سوری | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2009 | About Elly | درباره الی | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2011 | A Separation | جدایی نادر از سیمین | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2013 | The Past | Le passé / گذشته | Yes | Yes | No | French language debut |
| 2016 | The Salesman | فروشنده | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2018 | Everybody Knows | Todos lo saben | Yes | Yes | No | Spanish language debut |
| 2021 | A Hero | قهرمان | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2026 | Parallel Tales | Histoires Parallèles | Yes | Yes | Yes | Filming[53] |
| Year | English Title | Original Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Low Heights | ارتفاع پست | Only writer, co-written withEbrahim Hatamikia |
| 2007 | Canaan | Only writer, co-written withMani Haghighi | |
| 2008 | Tambourine | دایره زنگی | Only writer |
| 2009 | Trial on the Street | محاکمه در خیابان | Only writer, co-written withMasoud Kimiai |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | The Waiter | Yes | Yes | Yes | IRIB TV5 |
| Doctors | No | No | Yes | IRIB TV3 | |
| Farrokh & Faraj Residential Complex | Yes | No | No | IRIB TV2 | |
| 1999 | Youthful Days | No | No | Yes | IRIB TV5 |
| A Tale of a City | Yes | Yes | Yes | IRIB TV5 | |
| 2001 | A Tale of a City II | Yes | Yes | Yes | IRIB TV5 |
Farhadi is one of a select list of directors who have won theBest Foreign Film Oscar more than once. The others areVittorio de Sica andFederico Fellini (four times each),Ingmar Bergman (three times), andRené Clément andAkira Kurosawa (twice each). The following is a selection of his major awards.A Separation won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012, becoming the first Iranian film to win the award. The film was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Original Screenplay.The Salesmanwon the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2017. However, Farhadi did not attend the 89th Academy Awards ceremony in protest of the U.S. Executive Order 13769.A Hero won theHafez Award for Best Director – Motion Picture and Best Screenplay – Motion Picture (both original and adapted) in 2021.[54]
Honors
| Year | Title | Rotten Tomatoes[56] | Metacritic[57] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Dancing in the Dust | N/A | N/A |
| 2004 | The Beautiful City | 92% (12 reviews) | 69% (8 reviews) |
| 2006 | Fireworks Wednesday | 100% (45 reviews) | 84% (18 reviews) |
| 2009 | About Elly | 99% (72 reviews) | 87% (29 reviews) |
| 2011 | A Separation | 99% (177 reviews) | 95% (41 reviews) |
| 2013 | The Past | 92% (156 reviews) | 85% (41 reviews) |
| 2016 | The Salesman | 96% (196 reviews) | 85% (36 reviews) |
| 2018 | Everybody Knows | 78% (180 reviews) | 68% (38 reviews) |
| 2021 | A Hero | 97% (187 reviews) | 82% (39 reviews) |
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