Asghar Farhadi

Multi-award-winning director and screenwriter Asghar Farhadi was born in Iran in 1972. He
started his education in filmmaking as a teenager when he joined the Youth Cinema Society
of Esfahan. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in theatre and a master’s degree in stage
direction, Farhadi made his feature directorial debut with Dance in the Dust (2003). His third
feature, Fireworks Wednesday (2006), won the Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film
Festival, while About Elly (2009) won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin
International Film Festival.
His next film, A Separation (2011), was a sensation, winning
critical acclaim and a plethora of awards worldwide, including the Academy Award for Best
Foreign Language Film, making Farhadi the first Iranian filmmaker to win an Oscar. He went
on to make further notable films, including The Past (2013), The Salesman (2016), which
gave him his second Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Everybody Knows (2018) and A
Hero (2021).