Asghar Farhadi (born 7 May 1972) is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. Among other awards, he has received two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film for his films A Separation (2012) and The Salesman (2016), making him one of the few directors worldwide who have won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film twice, along with such noted directors as Akira Kurosawa and René Clément. In 2012, he was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. Source: Wikipedia
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The Salesman (2016) Plot:: Emad and Rana are a married couple who both work in the theatre, currently starring in a production of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, with Emad portraying Willy Loman and Rana playing Linda. Emad is also a popular instructor at a local school, where the youth joke about him being a "salesman." One night, their apartment begins to collapse and they flee the building with the other residents. Desperate to find a place to live, their fellow actor Babak secures another apartment for them, where a woman has recently moved out, although she left in a hurry abandoning numerous belongings. One night, Rana is home alone and begins bathing. When Emad returns, he finds she is missing and the bathroom is covered with blood. He rushes to the hospital, where he is informed by his neighbours about his wife's condition and is told to change the apartment's locks. It becomes apparent that Rana has not had an accident, but has been assaulted by an intruder. Emad also learns from neighbours that the previous tenant was a prostitute, who had conflicts with her clients. Rana returns home, but suffers from trauma and is reluctant to go to the police. She does not bathe, fearing to go into the bathroom again, and in the middle of a performance, breaks down in tears and leaves the stage. Although she does not remember the face of her attacker, Emad finds the culprit left his car keys, which he matches to a pick-up parked outside. The attacker also left behind a mobile phone and money which Rana purchased groceries with, thinking Emad had left it for her. Emad increasingly blames Babak for hiding the truth about the former tenant, at one point calling his character Charley a degenerate in the midst of a performance, although this is not in Miller's script. Finally, Emad turns to one of his students, whose father used to work in the police. He is able to trace the truck to a man named Majid. Emad consults Majid's prospective father-in-law, who says the truck is shared. Gradually, it becomes apparent the older man was himself the intruder, though he denies attacking Rana, implying he simply startled her. Emad calls the old man's family to the apartment, and locks him in a small room to wait, intending to reveal his true character to them all. When he opens the room the old man appears to be having heart trouble and Emad calls Rana in a panic. When Rana learns what Emad intends, she says it will be over between them if he pursues his revenge. When the family arrives they believe they have been called to a medical emergency, thanking Emad for saving his life. Just before they leave, Emad insists on settling his account with the old man in private, returning the money he had left after Rana's assault. Unseen by the family, Emad slaps the old man, who then collapses as he is leaving with his family, and they call an ambulance. Rana and Emad return to the theatre together. Source: Wikipedia
A Separation (2011) Plot:: Simin wants to leave the country with her husband, Nader, and daughter, Termeh, as the former does not want Termeh to grow up under the prevailing conditions. This desire is not shared by Nader, who is concerned for his father, who lives with the family and suffers from Alzheimer's disease. When Nader determines to stay in Iran, Simin files for divorce. The family court judges the couple's problems insufficient to warrant divorce and rejects Simin's application. She leaves her husband and daughter and moves back in with her parents. On the recommendation of Simin, Nader hires Razieh, a young, deeply religious woman from a poor suburb, to take care of his father while he is at work. Razieh has applied for the job without consulting her hot-tempered husband, Hodjat, whose approval, according to tradition, would have been required. Her family is financially dependent on the job, and she takes her daughter to the house with her. Razieh soon becomes overwhelmed by taking care of Nader's father, which is physically and emotionally demanding. She finds the work very heavy, especially as she is pregnant. The job even tests her religious beliefs when the old man wets himself, and she must call a hotline to determine whether it would be sinful for her to clean him. One day, Nader and Termeh return to discover her grandfather lying unconscious on the floor in his bedroom, with one of his arms tied to the bed. Razieh is nowhere to be found. When she returns, Nader accuses her of neglecting his father and of having stolen money from his room (unbeknownst to Nader, Simin used the money to pay movers). Outraged, Nader shoves Razieh out of the apartment. She falls in the stairwell outside. Hodjat's sister later calls Simin to inform her that Razieh is in the hospital because she has suffered a miscarriage. A prosecution is assigned to determine the cause of the miscarriage and Nader's potential responsibility for it. If it is proved that Nader knew of Razieh's pregnancy and caused the miscarriage, he could be sentenced for murder. Nader accuses Razieh of neglecting his father. The hot-headed and aggressive Hodjat physically confronts Nader on several occasions, and threatens him, his family, and Termeh's teacher, who testifies on Nader's behalf. When Hodjat is detained for another outburst, Razieh reveals that he has mental disorders, and that he is under therapy, leading to his release. Nader learns that the reason Razieh was absent that day was because she had gone to visit a physician, which Razieh had avoided revealing earlier. This news, combined with Hodjat's explosive temper, causes Nader to wonder if Hodjat is physically abusive to Razieh and had caused her miscarriage. Termeh protects Nader's position with a false statement and Simin, fearing for Termeh's safety, attempts to arrange a financial deal with Razieh and Hodjat, to pay blood money for the loss of their child. Nader is initially outraged by Simin's suggestion, as he feels that it would be an admission of guilt. But he also must admit that he lied about his knowledge of Razieh's pregnancy. However, Razieh reveals to Simin she has serious doubts as to whether Nader's actions caused the miscarriage, considering she had earlier been hit by a car while retrieving Nader's father when he had wandered out of the apartment and had first experienced symptoms of the miscarriage that night. Razieh fears that without the money Nader can provide in or out of court Hodjat will not be able to pay back his debtors, destroying their family. After another full-blown argument, Simin forces Termeh to leave with her. Nader agrees to the payment and asks Razieh to swear on the Qur'an that he is the cause of her miscarriage. Since she has doubts, she refuses, though Hodjat tries to force her to avoid dishonor in front of his creditors. Later, at the family court, Nader and Simin have filed for a divorce once again. The judge makes their separation permanent, and asks Termeh which parent she chooses to live with. She states that she has made a decision, but asks that the judge tell her parents to wait outside before she tells him. Source: Wikipedia
About Elly (2009) Plot:: A group of middle-class Iranians, former classmates at the law faculty of the university, go to the Caspian Sea for a three-day vacation: Sepideh, her husband Amir and their young daughter; Shohreh, her husband Peymān and their two children, including their son Arash and Nāzy and her husband Manuchehr. Sepidah, who planned the trip, brings along her daughter's kindergarten teacher, Elly, in order to introduce her to Ahmad, a divorced friend visiting from Germany. At the seaside mansion that Sepideh has booked the woman in charge tells them the owners will return the next day and suggests that they stay instead in a deserted beach-front villa. Sepideh lies to the old woman about the relationship between Elly and Ahmad: she says they're married and on their honeymoon. Elly is a little shy, but begins to feel interested in Ahmad, who seems to have feelings for Elly. She calls her mother and lies to her, saying that she's with her co-workers at a sea-side resort and that she expects to go back to Tehran the following day, as planned. Sepideh, however, doesn't want her to leave and hides her luggage. One of the mothers asks Elly to watch the children playing at the seaside. Later, Arash is found floating in the sea and Elly is nowhere to be seen. Arash is resuscitated, but the group doesn't know whether Elly has been drowned or has just left for Tehran. The police are called, while the group continues to search for Elly. The group starts to blame each other for the series of events leading up to her disappearance and her presence on the trip. However, things are not as they seem, as it turns out that Sepideh has been lying and knows Elly is engaged to a man named Alireza. Since Elly is reluctant to marry Alireza, Sepideh insists she comes on the trip to meet Ahmad. Elly initially refuses the invitation, as an engaged woman but, following pressure from Sepideh, eventually accepts. Alireza arrives and attacks Ahmad, then asks Sepideh whether Elly had refused her invitation to go on holiday. Sepideh wants to protect the honour of Elly and tells the truth but, following pressure from the others who feel threatened by Alireza, lies and tells him that Elly accepted the invitation without hesitation. In the climactic scene, Alireza is shown identifying Elly in a mortuary, breaking down in tears. Source: Wikipedia
The Past (2013) Plot:: Ahmad, an Iranian man, returns to France after four years to finalise his divorce with his wife Marie. On the way to her home, he learns that she has begun a relationship with Samir, the owner of a dry cleaning service and he is to share a room with Samir's son Fouad. At Marie's request, he speaks to her daughter from a previous marriage, Lucie, regarding her recent troubled behavior. Lucie disapproves of Marie's new relationship. Ahmad and Marie attend court to complete their divorce. Just before the meeting with the officials, she tells him that she is pregnant with Samir's child. Ahmad continues to counsel Lucie, hoping to reconcile her to the situation. She reveals that Samir is still married and his wife is in coma after a suicide attempt, caused by the revelation that Samir and Marie were conducting an affair. Samir tells Ahmad that his wife suffered from depression and the suicide attempt was in fact caused by an incident with a customer in his shop. His wife was unaware of his affair and he arranges for Naïma, his employee, who witnessed both the suicide attempt and the incident in the shop, to meet with Lucie. After hearing Naïma's story, Lucie becomes distressed and confesses that she forwarded Marie's emails to Samir's wife the day before she tried to kill herself, after calling her at the dry cleaning shop. Lucie disappears and Ahmad and Samir search for her. Ahmad finds Lucie, who has been staying with a friend, and tries to convince her to tell Marie what she did, saying that Marie has a right to know, now that she is carrying Samir's child. Lucie does so and Marie becomes enraged, telling Lucie to leave. Ahmad calms the situation and Lucie returns. After questioning what feelings he may still hold for his wife, Marie tells Samir what Lucie did. Samir finds this hard to accept and questions Naïma about the events leading up his wife's suicide attempt. Naïma states his wife wasn't even in the shop the day that Lucie said she called. After Marie accuses Lucie of lying, Lucie maintains her version of events saying that she spoke to a woman with an accent on the phone. Samir realizes that she actually spoke to Naïma, who then gave Lucie his wife's email address. He confronts Naïma, who confesses and explains that his wife had always been jealous of her and had been trying to get her either sacked or deported from France and had initiated the confrontation with the customer. However, Naïma believes that his wife never read the emails, because she came into the shop and chose to drink bleach in front of her, instead of in front of Samir or Marie. Samir and Marie discuss the events and their relationship. Samir decides that they should focus on their future, while Marie appears conflicted. Ahmad prepares to return to Iran. He says farewell to the children and attempts to talk to Marie about the end of their marriage, but Marie does not let him, stating that she doesn't need to know such things now. Meanwhile, Samir visits his wife in hospital with a selection of perfumes, which the doctors have recommended in order to possibly initiate a response. He sprays on some of his cologne and leans over her, asking her to squeeze his hand if she can smell it. A tear runs down her face and he looks down at her hand, which is holding his. Source: Wikipedia
Everybody Knows (2018) Plot:: The story follows Laura (Penélope Cruz), a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, who returns with her children to her hometown outside Madrid for a wedding. However, the trip is upset by unexpected events that bring secrets into the open. Source: Wikipedia
Fireworks Wednesday (2006) Plot:: The film portrays the life of a turbulent couple, Mozhdeh and Morteza Samiei, as they prepare for a vacation to Dubai the morning after Chaharshanbe Suri, a festival held on the eve of Wednesday before Nowruz. Morteza orders Rouhi, a maid and bride-soon-to-be, to help the couple clean their apartment, though Mozhdeh initially insists that she is not required. While she is doing her work, Rouhi learns piece by piece what is happening between the two: Mozhdeh suspects that Morteza is seeing their divorced neighbor, Simin, behind her back, after discovering Simin's phone number in the logs. Simin, meanwhile, is working as a beautician, which disturbs the neighborhood due to all the noises, eventually leading to a court order imposed against her to either quit or leave. As Morteza says that he would not come home until 5 PM, Mozhdeh sets Rouhi, who wants her eyebrow trimmed, to ask Simin if she is also unavailable until 5 PM; her fears are confirmed. Simin, though, has enough time to trim Rouhi's eyebrows; there, Rouhi overhears that Simin knows when the Samiei are due to depart to Dubai. When she goes back to Samiei, she finds her chador taken by Mozhdeh, who wants to spy on Morteza, leaving her to take the Samiei's son, Amirali, home from school. Morteza is enraged upon learning these and publicly beats Mozhdeh. Fed up, Mozhdeh decides to move to her sister and brother-in-law's residence with Amirali, refusing to hear Morteza's apologies. To calm the situation down, Rouhi lies about the reason why Simin knows their departure time. Morteza offers Rouhi a ride home in exchange for accompanying him and Amirali to see the fireworks. He leaves the two for a while and meets with Simin in private, confirming that the two are indeed having an affair; to his dismay, though, Simin wants them to separate, as she does not want to break up the Samiei. Rouhi later sniffs Simin's perfume scent on the way home (she has previously scented her hand with Simin's perfume) and realizes the truth. However, she ultimately chooses not to tell Mozhdeh. Source: Wikipedia
Beautiful City (2004) Plot:: Akbar celebrates his 18th birthday in the detention centre. He has been held in a rehabilitation centre for committing murder at the age of sixteen when he was condemned to death. Legally speaking, he had to reach the age of eighteen so that the conviction could be carried out. Now, Akbar is transferred to prison to await the day of his execution. A'la, a friend of Akbar, who himself has undergone imprisonment for burglary, soon after his release tries desperately to gain the consent of Akbar's plaintiff so as to stop the execution. Source: Wikipedia
Dancing in the Dust (2003) Plot:: Under pressure from his relatives, Nazar an Azarbaijani young man who lives in the immigrants district, divorces his wife Reyhane, and all he can do for his divorced wife is to arrange for payment of her marriage dowry on installments. Nazar encounters great difficulties in raising money for the monthly installments. Source: Wikipedia
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