Life and career

Farhadi was born in Khomeyni Shahr . He is a graduate of theatre, with a BA in Dramatic Arts and MA in Stage Direction from University of Tehran and Tarbiat Modares University, respectively. Farhadi made short 8mm and 16mm 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. Dancing in the Dust was his feature film debut, which he followed with A Beautiful City.

His third film, Fireworks Wednesday, won the Gold Hugo at the 2006 Chicago International Film Festival. His fourth film, About Elly, won him the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 59th International Berlin Film Festival and also Best Picture at the Tribeca Film Festival. The latter film is about a group of Iranians who take a trip to the Caspian Sea that turns tragic. Film theorist and critic David Bordwell has called About Elly a masterpiece.

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 won 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 earned him 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 Cannes Festival's winner The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick.

On 19 December 2011, Farhadi was announced as being on the jury for the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, held in February 2012.

On 15 January 2012, A Separation won the Golden Globe for the Best Foreign Language Film.

The film was also the official Iranian submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 2012 Academy Awards, where apart from getting nominated in this category, it also received a nomination in the Best Original Screenplay category. On 26 February 2012, A Separation became the first Iranian movie to have received an Oscar for the best foreign language film at the 84th edition of the Academy Awards. This marked Farhadi as the first Iranian to have won an Academy Award in any of the competitive categories. He was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2012 along with 175 other individuals.

His 2013 film The Past, starring Bérénice Bejo and Tahar Rahim, competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Bejo won the Best Actress Award at Cannes for her performance in the film.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Film	Credited as			Notes
		Director	Producer	Writer
2002	Low Heights	No	No	Yes	Co-written with Ebrahim Hatamikia
2003	Dancing in the Dust	Yes	No	Yes	Co-written with Alireza Bazrafshan and Mohammad Reza Fazeli
2004	The Beautiful City	Yes	No	Yes
2006	Fireworks Wednesday	Yes	No	Yes	Co-written with Mani Haghighi
2007	Canaan	No	No	Yes	Co-written with Mani Haghighi
2008	Tambourine	No	No	Yes
2009	Trial on the Street	No	No	Yes	Co-written with Masoud Kimiai
2009	About Elly	Yes	Yes	Yes
2011	A Separation	Yes	Yes	Yes
2013	The Past	Yes	No	Yes
2016	The Salesman	Yes	Yes	Yes

Television

Year	Film	Credited as			Notes
		Director	Producer	Writer
1998	The Waiter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Broadcast on IRIB TV5
1998	Doctors	No	No	Yes	Broadcast on IRIB TV3
1998	Farrokh & Faraj Residental Complex	Yes	No	No	Broadcast on IRIB TV2
1999	Youth days	No	No	Yes	Broadcast on IRIB TV5
1999	Story of a City	Yes	Yes	Yes	Broadcast on IRIB TV5
2001	Story of a City II	Yes	Yes	Yes	Broadcast on IRIB TV5

Awards

• Special Jury Award for Dancing in the Dust, Fajr International Film Festival (2003)
• Best Director for Dancing in the Dust, Asia Pacific Film Festival (2003)
• Best Screenplay for Dancing in the Dust, Asia Pacific Film Festival (2003)
• Grand Prix for The Beautiful City, Warsaw International Film Festival (2004)
• Golden Peacock for The Beautiful City, International Film Festival of India (2004)
• FIPRESCI Prize for The Beautiful City, Split Film Festival (2005)
• Crystal Simorgh (Best Director) for Fireworks Wednesday, Fajr International Film Festival (2006)
• Gold Hugo for Fireworks Wednesday, Chicago International Film Festival (2006)
• Golden Lady Harimaguada for Fireworks Wednesday, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival (2007)
• Crystal Simorgh (Best Director) for About Elly, Fajr International Film Festival (2009)
• Audience Award for About Elly, Fajr International Film Festival (2009)
• Silver Bear (Best Director) for About Elly, Berlin International Film Festival (2009)
• Best Narrative Feature for About Elly, Tribeca Film Festival (2009)
• Golden Crow Pheasant for About Elly, International Film Festival of Kerala (2009)
• Best Screenplay for About Elly, Asia Pacific Screen Awards (2009)
• Jury Grand Prize for About Elly, Asia Pacific Screen Awards (2009)
• Netpac Award for About Elly, Brisbane International Film Festival (2009)
• Crystal Simorgh (Best Director) for Nader and Simin, A Separation, Fajr International Film Festival (2011)
• Crystal Simorgh (Best Screenplay) for Nader and Simin, A Separation, Fajr International Film Festival (2011)
• Audience Award for Nader and Simin, A Separation, Fajr International Film Festival (2011)
• Reader Jury of the "Berliner Morgenpost" for Nader and Simin, A Separation, Berlin International Film Festival (2011)
• Special Prize of the Ecumenical Jury for Nader and Simin, A Separation, Berlin International Film Festival (2011)
• Golden Bear for Nader and Simin, A Separation, Berlin International Film Festival (2011)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film A Separation, Golden Globe Awards (2012)
• Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film A Separation, Academy Awards (2012)
• Foreign Policy Top 100 Global Thinker (2012)
• Prize of the Ecumenical Jury for The Past, Cannes Film Festival (2013)
• Best Screenplay Award for The Salesman, Cannes Film Festival (2016)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]