Asghar Farhadi

Asghar Farhadi is an award-winning Iranian film director and screenwriter.

Asghar Farhadi was born on 7 May 1972, in Isfahan Province, Iran.

Growing up he was always interested in cinema. In 1986, when he was 14, he joined the Iranian Youth Cinema Society of Esfahan, where he made short 8mm and 16mm films.

He attended the University of Tehran, from where he received a BA degree in Theater in 1998. Later, he earned an MA degree in Stage Direction from Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

While getting his education, Farhadi made six shorts and two TV series for Iran's National Broadcasting Corporation (IRIB,) including the critically acclaimed "A Tale of a City."

His career in professional cinema began in 2001 with him co-writing the script for Ebrahim Hatamikia-directed movie Low Heights (2002).

In 2003, he made his directorial debut with the film Dancing in the Dust. The film was recognized and lauded at Fajr and Moscow International Film Festivals.

In 2004, he directed Beautiful City (2004.)

In 2006, he released his third film, Fireworks Wednesday. The Hedyeh Tehrani, Taraneh Alidousti, and Hamid Farokhnezhad starrer was released at Fajr International Film Festival, gaining critical acclaim and winning 3 Crystal Simorgh. It also won the Gold Hugo at the 2006 Chicago International Film Festival.

Hi next film, About Elly (2009,) won the Silver Bear for Best Director at 59th Berlin International Film Festival and Best Picture at the Tribeca Film Festival.

In 2011, he premiered his next film, "A Separation," at the 29th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran. The film was widely successful with Roger Ebert calling it "the best picture of the year." It won numerous awards including the Golden Globe for the Best Foreign Language Film, Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. The Academy Award win marked Farhadi as the first Iranian filmmaker to have won an Oscar.

Following the success, in 2012, he was featured as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World.

In 2013, he directed The Past, starring Bérénice Bejo and Tahar Rahim. In 2016 film, The Salesman, starring Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidoosti, won his the Best Screenplay Award at 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Farhadi is married to Parisa Bakhtavar and they have two children. Their daughter, Sarina Farhadi, played the character of Termeh in the movie A Separation.

Films

Television

I believe that the world today needs more questions than answers. Answers prevent you from questioning, from thinking.

I tend to jot down moments, lines, interactions that don't really make any sense. I try and explain these scattered notes to my close friends, and they become more and more logical. I see screen writing as a bit like a math equation which I have to solve.

[on how Iran could consider submitting "A Separation" (2011), which deals with marital breakup in a Muslim family, for Oscar consideration] It's not a discussion that's linear - the government is this way, the people are that way. Within the government there's diversity of thought and taste. Some among them are much more open-minded, others are very closed. Perhaps what you're asking is, given the image that we have of the government which is so hard and full of censorship, how can you make such a film? That question would be like if you ask someone living in a desert, how is it that you can live, given the heat?

If you give an answer to your viewer, your film will simply finish in the movie theatre. But when you pose questions, your film actually begins after people watch it. In fact, your film will continue inside the viewer.

I like storytelling movies and more than that I like historical movies, and I think someday I'll definitely make a movie about the past 50 years history (Iran's history).

I feel it's important to talk about the complex issues affecting us.

I like storytelling movies and more than that I like historical movies; and I think someday I'll definitely make a movie about the past 50 years history.

Classical tragedy was the war between good and evil. We wanted evil to be defeated and good to be victorious. But the battle in modern tragedy is between good and good. And no matter which side wins, we'll still be heartbroken.

On his writing process - All my stories are written in a non-linear way. They don't go from point A to point B. I always have several stories developing simultaneously and they come together during a shared situation.

Each person makes their own choice, but my spirit is meant to stay in Iran, especially with the work that I do, and with the emotional connection I have with the country - with all its difficulties, this is why I stay.

I gained a great deal from the period during which I worked in theater and I value those things a great deal.

[on why he focuses on family issues] When I base a story on a family it gives me a large possibility. Spectators all over the world have experience of families so this brings them one step closer to my films.

[on whether he will make films outside Iran] It will depend on the stories that comes to me. I won't decide to go make a film in a country and then find a story; I will wait for the story to tell me where to go.

I feel it's important to talk about the complex issues affecting us. I think it's insulting to an audience to make them sit and watch a film and then give them a message in one sentence.

I feel that it means a lot to the people of Iran that my film is represented at the Oscars, and it makes me happy to bring them that joy, that I'm representing them and that I'm able to give them that element of pleasure to be the envoy from Iran. It's a very pleasant thing.