Asghar Farhadi
Asghar Farhadi | |
---|---|
Isfahan, Pahlavi Iran | |
Alma mater | Tarbiat Modares University University of Tehran |
Occupations |
|
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, including Sarina Farhadi |
Asghar Farhadi (
Farhadi made his directorial film debut with the drama Dancing in the Dust (2003) followed by The Beautiful City (2004) and Fireworks Wednesday (2006). He gained acclaim for his film About Elly (2009) earning a Silver Bear for Best Director. He rose to greater prominence becoming one of the few directors worldwide to have won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film twice, for the family drama A Separation (2011) and the moral drama The Salesman (2016). The later of which also received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay.
He also gained acclaim for his films The Past (2013) which was filmed in France and Everybody Knows (2018) which was filmed in Spain. He returned to Iran with A Hero (2021), which earned Farhadi the Cannes Film Festival's Grand Prix.[3]
Early life and education
Farhadi was born in
Career
2003–2009: Rise to prominence
At the start of his career, Farhadi made numerous short 8 mm and 16 mm films in the Isfahan branch of the Iranian Young Cinema Society before moving on to writing plays and screenplays for IRIB. He also directed such TV series as A Tale of a City and co-wrote the screenplay for Ebrahim Hatamikia's Low Heights. In 2003, Farhadi made his feature film debut with Dancing in the Dust about a man having trouble raising money for his marriage dowry installements.[7] Deborah Young of Variety 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 the 25th Moscow International Film Festival and three awards at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival including Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Faramarz Gharibian.
Farhadi's sophmore effort was The 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’s
In 2009, Farhadi directed his fourth film,
2011–2016: Breakthrough and acclaim
His film A Separation premiered on 9 February 2011 at the 29th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran and received critical acclaim from the Iran Society of Film Critics. It earned Farhadi four awards, including Best Director (for the third time after Fireworks Wednesday and About Elly). On 15 February 2011, it also played in competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, which received a Golden Bear for best film, becoming the first Iranian film to win that award. In June 2011, A Separation won the Sydney Film Prize in competition with The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick.[13] It also won the Best Film award at the 2011 Asia 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 of NPR 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 a
In 2013, Farhadi's film
His 2016 film
On 26 February 2017, Farhadi won his second Oscar for
After winning the
2018–present
In 2018, Farhadi directed his eighth feature film titled,
A Hero is Farhadi's 9th feature film. Alexandre Mallet-Guy co-produced the work. This film was shot in Marvdasht, 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 for A Hero from an earlier documentary made by Azadeh Masihzadeh, a former film student of Farhadi.[39] The case is now before the criminal court; if convicted, Farhadi could face up to three years in prison.[40] 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]
Themes
Social and class structures
Farhadi's films present a microcosm of modern Iran and explore the inevitable complications that arise via class, gender, and religious differences. For example, his 2011 film A Separation portrays various intractable conflicts and arguments that force the characters to reflect on the moral 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's A 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.[41]
The film critic Roger 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).[42]
In the introduction to her 2014 book Asghar Farhadi: Life and Cinema, film critic Tina Hassannia writes:[43]
[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".[44]
Cultural norms
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 the
What is less noticed is his veiled criticism of religious standards in Iran. His debut feature
Influences
In 2012, Farhadi participated in that year's
- Rashomon (Japan, 1950)
- The Big Road (China, 1935)
- The Godfather (US, 1972)
- Tokyo Story (Japan, 1953)
- The Apartment (US, 1960)
- Three Colors: Red(France, 1994)
- Take the Money and Run (US, 1969)
- Persona (Sweden, 1966)
- Taxi Driver (US, 1976)
- Modern Times (US, 1936)
Accusation of plagiarism
In 2022, The New Yorker reported allegations of Farhardi plagiarizing many of his films’ ideas, and stealing from students of a workshop he mentored decades earlier. Farhadi denied the allegations addressing them at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival when he served as a juror.[47]
In March 2024, an Iranian court issued a verdict acquitting Farhadi of the plagiarism allegations, based on the review by several University of Tehran copyright law experts and other experts.[48][49]
Filmography
Feature films
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Distribution | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Low Heights | No | Yes | No | Co-written with Ebrahim Hatamikia | |
2003 | Dancing in the Dust
|
Yes | Yes | No | ||
2004 | The Beautiful City | Yes | Yes | No | ||
2006 | Fireworks Wednesday | Yes | Yes | No | Grasshopper Film | |
2007 | Canaan | No | Yes | No | Co-written with Mani Haghighi | |
2008 | Tambourine | No | Yes | No | ||
2009 | About Elly | Yes | Yes | Yes | Dreamlab Films | |
Trial on the Street | No | Yes | No | Co-written with Masoud Kimiai | ||
2011 | A Separation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Sony Pictures Classics | |
2013 | The Past | Yes | Yes | No | ||
2016 | The Salesman | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
2018 | Everybody Knows | Yes | Yes | No | Focus Features | |
2021 | A Hero | Yes | Yes | Yes | Amazon Studios
|
Television
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 |
Awards and honors
Farhadi is one of a select list of directors who have won the
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 the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
The Salesman
A Hero won the Hafez Award for Best Director – Motion Picture and Best Screenplay – Motion Picture (both original and adapted) in 2021.[50]
Honors
- Legion of Honour French (2012)
- Foreign Policy Top 100 Global Thinker (2012)[51]
See also
- Massoud Farasati
- Cinema of Iran
- Persian cinema
References
- ^ Soureh Movie Database Archived 21 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Asghar Farhadi – Filmmaker". Time. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- ^ "A Hero: Asghar Farhadi has been contemplating his latest drama for decades". Web News Observer. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ^ "از اصفهان تا کن، از رادیو تا فروشنده/ اصغر فرهادی سال ۶۶ در اصفهان مشغول چه کاری بود؟ | پایگاه خبری تحلیلی سینما سینما". cinemacinema.ir. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
- ^ "Asghar Farhadi". Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ^ "NESHANE". Archived from the original on 10 February 2006. Retrieved 13 August 2006.
- ^ "Dancing in the Dust". Variety. 3 June 2003. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "Beautiful City". Variety. 28 September 2004. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ Geoff Andrew (27 October 2006). "Fireworks Wednesday". Time Out London.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (13 September 2012). "About Elly - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "A masterpiece, and others not to be neglected". Archived from the original on 6 September 2015.
- ^ "2011 SFF Official Competition winner is..." News. Sydney Film Festival. 19 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- ^ "A Separation movie review & film summary". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "'A Separation': In Tehran, Houses And Hearts Divide". NPR. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "Berlinale 2012: International Jury". berlinale.de. 19 December 2011. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- ^ "Golden Globes: 'A Separation' wins best foreign language film". Los Angeles Times. 15 January 2012. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
- ^ ""A Separation" nominated for foreign-language film Oscar". Tehran Times. 25 January 2012. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012.
- ^ Ronald Grover (27 February 2012). "Iran wins first Oscar with "A Separation". Reuters. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ^ "A Hollywood party, with a nervous look to Iran". Salon. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "Academy Invites 176 to Membership". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
- ^ "2013 Official Selection". Cannes. 18 April 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
- ^ "Cannes Film Festival: Awards 2013". Cannes. 26 May 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ^ Chang, Justin (26 May 2013). "Cannes: 'Blue Is the Warmest Color' Wins Palme d' Or". Variety. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ^ "Le passé (The Past) (2013)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
- ^ "The Past Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
- ^ "Asghar Farhadi's 'The Past' Selected for Foreign-Language Oscar". Variety. 29 September 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes 2016". 22 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ "Taking 'Death Of A Salesman' To Tehran". NPR. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "A Marriage Crumbles in the Gripping Iranian Drama The Salesman". The Atlantic. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ Donadio, Rachel; Erdbrink, Thomas (29 January 2017). "Iranian Director Asghar Farhadi Won't Attend Oscar Ceremony". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ "Meet Anousheh Ansari, the only woman ever to travel to space on self-funded mission". The Economic Times. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ^ "An Iranian director protesting Trump's travel ban sent a space traveler to pick up his award". 26 February 2017. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ "The Salesman Director Delivers Powerful Statement Against Trump (While Boycotting the Ceremony)". 27 February 2017. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
- ^ Orlova-Alvarez, Tamara; Alvarez, Joe (25 September 2018). "Film Director Asghar Farhadi's plans for London West End". Ikon London Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- ^ "Everybody Knows". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- ^ Dalton2021-10-21T16:59:00+01:00, Ben. "Iran selects Asghar Farhadi's 'A Hero' as Oscar international feature entry". Screen. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Roxborough, Scott (4 April 2022). "Oscar-Winning Iranian Director Asghar Farhadi Indicted on Plagiarizing Charges for 'A Hero'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ a b Aviv, Rachel (31 October 2022). "Did The Oscar-winning Director Asghar Farhadi Steal Ideas?". The New Yorker. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ Moruzzi, Norma Claire. "Through the Looking Glass: Reflexive Cinema and Society in Post-Revolution Iran". From Iranian Cinema in a Global Context: Policy, Politics, and Form By Peter Decherney, Blake Atwood. Routledge. NY: 2015. 112-142 https://books.google.com/books?id=p0ODBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage Archived 27 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 9781449423117. Archivedfrom the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ Tina Hassannia (2014). Asghar Farhadi: Life and Cinema. Critical Press.
- ^ Lee, Nam (12 April 2019). "Iranian Cinema in Transition: Relative Truth and Morality in Asghar Farhadi's Films". DigitalCommons.
- ^ Asghar Farhadi: Life and Cinema by Tina Hassannia, Critical Press, 2014
- ^ "Asghar Farhadi's Top 10 Director's Poll". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ "Asghar Farhadi Acquitted of 'A Hero' Plagiarism Charges Filed by Former Student". IndieWire. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ "Asghar Farhadi Fully Cleared of 'A Hero' Plagiarism Allegations by Iranian Court". Variety. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ "Iran Verdict Rejects 'A Hero' Copyright Infringement Claim". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ "21st Hafez Awards 2021 - Hafez Awards". 22 March 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ "The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers". Foreign Policy. 26 November 2012. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
External links
- Asghar Farhadi at IMDb
- Asghar Farhadi on Instagram