Asghar Farhadi
-
Who is Asghar Farhadi?
Asghar Farhadi (born January 1, 1972) is an Iranian filmmaker known for dramas that explore ethical problems related to social class, gender, and religion in modern Iran.
Farhadi began making short films as a teenager and has a master's degree in theatre direction from Tarbiat Modares University. His films rarely address political themes directly, which has helped him largely avoid serious conflicts with the Iranian government.
His film Jodāi-e Nāder az Simin (2011; A Separation) tells the story of a middle-class couple on the brink of divorce and won an Academy Award for best foreign-language film. Farhadi also won an Oscar for best foreign-language film for Forushande (2016; The Salesman).
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What country is Asghar Farhadi from?
Asghar Farhadi, born on January 1, 1972, is an Iranian filmmaker from Eṣfahān, Iran.
Farhadi's dramas often explore ethical problems and contradictions arising from social class, gender, and religion in modern Iran. He is known for directing Jodāi-e Nāder az Simin (A Separation) and Forushande (The Salesman), which both won an Academy Award for best foreign-language film.
Farhadi began making short films as a teenager and has largely avoided conflicts with the Iranian government because his films rarely address political themes directly.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is Asghar Farhadi famous for in the film industry?
Asghar Farhadi, born in Eṣfahān, Iran, on January 1, 1972, is an acclaimed Iranian filmmaker known for dramas that explore ethical problems and contradictions arising from social class, gender, and religion in modern Iran.
Farhadi is best known for Jodāi-e Nāder az Simin (2011; A Separation) and Forushande (2016; The Salesman), both of which won an Academy Award for best foreign-language film. His films rarely address political themes directly, which has helped him largely avoid serious conflicts with the Iranian government.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are two well-known movies directed by Asghar Farhadi?
Asghar Farhadi, born in 1972, is an acclaimed Iranian filmmaker known for dramas exploring ethical issues within modern Iranian society.
Two of his best-known movies are:
* A Separation (Jodāi-e Nāder az Simin, 2011) tells the story of a middle-class couple in Iran facing divorce, whose lives become tragically intertwined with a religious, working-class family. It won an Academy Award for best foreign-language film.
* The Salesman (Forushande, 2016) focuses on a couple dealing with the aftermath of the wife's assault. This drama also won an Oscar for best foreign-language film.3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What themes are often explored in Asghar Farhadi's films?
Asghar Farhadi, an Iranian filmmaker, explores ethical problems and contradictions arising from social class, gender, and religion in modern Iran. His dramas often center on domestic turmoil, conflicts, and emotional revelations that arise within relationships.
Farhadi's films rarely address political themes directly. Instead, he is known for sophisticated narrative structures and empathetic depictions of characters from different backgrounds facing complex moral dilemmas.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What international awards or recognition has Asghar Farhadi received for his work?
Asghar Farhadi is an Iranian filmmaker known for dramas exploring ethical problems arising from social class, gender, and religion in modern Iran.
Farhadi's film About Elly earned him the Silver Bear award for best director at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. His films A Separation and The Salesman each won an Academy Award for best foreign-language film. In addition, A Separation won the Golden Bear award for best film at the Berlin International Film Festival.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Asghar Farhadi (born January 1, 1972, Eṣfahān, Iran) is an Iranian filmmaker whose dramas examine ethical problems and contradictions arising from social class, gender, and religion in modern Iran. He is perhaps best known for Jodāi-e Nāder az Simin (2011; A Separation) and Forushande (2016; The Salesman), both of which won an Academy Award for best foreign-language film.
Farhadi began making short films while he was a teenager. He studied drama at the University of Tehrān and earned a master’s degree (1998) in theatre direction from Tarbiat Modares University, Tehrān. While completing his studies, he wrote a number of radio plays for Iran’s national broadcasting service and directed several television programs.
In 2001 Farhadi cowrote the screenplay for the political satire Ertefā-e past (2002; Low Heights). In 2003 he directed his first feature film, Raghṣ dar ghobār (Dancing in the Dust), about a young man who flees to the desert after being forced to divorce his wife over rumours that her mother is a prostitute; Farhardi also penned the screenplay, as he would for most of his films. He next made Shahr-e zībā (2004; Beautiful City), which explores the concept of justice through the story of an 18-year-old prisoner awaiting execution for the murder of his girlfriend while his sister works to save his life by trying to persuade the murdered girl’s father to give his consent for clemency. Chahārshanbe Sūrī (2006; Fireworks Wednesday) examines the strained marriage of a middle-class Tehrān couple during Chahārshanbe Sūrī, the feast preceding Nowrūz, the Persian New Year festival. In Darbāreye Elī (2009; About Elly), conflicts and emotional revelations arise when a young teacher disappears while vacationing with a group of friends at a seaside cabin. For the drama, Farhadi won the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival’s Silver Bear award for best director.
Because Farhadi’s films rarely addressed political themes directly, he largely avoided serious conflicts with the Iranian government. Iranian cultural officials briefly banned Farhadi from filmmaking in September 2010 after a speech in which he made comments in support of Jafar Panahi and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, two prominent filmmakers and critics of the Iranian government. A month later officials announced that Farhadi had apologized, and they permitted him to complete work on Jodāi-e Nāder az Simin. The movie tells the story of a middle-class Iranian couple on the brink of divorce whose lives become entangled, in a series of tragic events, with those of a religious working-class family. Critics praised the film’s sophisticated narrative structure as well as the empathetic depictions of characters with different backgrounds facing complex moral dilemmas. In addition to the Oscar, it won Berlin’s Golden Bear award for best film.
Farhadi continued to explore domestic turmoil in Le Passé (2013; The Past), which centres on an Iranian man who travels from Tehrān to Paris in order to finalize his divorce so his estranged French wife can remarry, and in Forushande (2016; The Salesman), about a couple whose relationship becomes strained after the wife is assaulted. The latter drama earned particular acclaim, notably winning the Oscar for best foreign-language film. He then wrote and directed the Spanish-language film Todos lo saben (2018; Everybody Knows), which starred Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem as Laura and Paco, former lovers who grow closer when Laura’s daughter is kidnapped. In his next film, Ghahreman (2021; A Hero), a businessman on a two-day leave from debtors’ prison attempts to secure an early release, but his plan goes awry; Farhadi also penned the drama.