In Brief

Aṣghar Farhādī (born in Khumaynīʹshahr, Isfahan, in 1972) – who has a bachelor’s degree in dramatic literature from Tehran University and a master’s degree in theater directing from Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran – is one of the best known and most critically celebrated directors of the current generation of Iranian cinema, internationally recognized especially as the first recipient in the history of Iranian cinema to win the Academy Award—twice no less. and first shone with films such as Chahārshanbahʹsūrī (Fireworks Wednesday, 2006) and Dar bārah-’i Ilī (About Elly, 2009), and then with Judāyi-i Nādir az Sīmīn (A Separation, 2011), and Furūshandah) The Salesman,2016); for these latter two films he won the Oscar for a foreign language film twice, a rare honor to have done so for any director. He has also been recognized by the Cannes Film Festival, Time magazine, and France’s Legion of Honor. His emphasis on social issues, family dynamics, the human condition, and contemporary Iranian society, particularly concerning gender, class, and religious differences, has attracted the attention of artistic circles both in Iran and abroad.