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1/30/2012
‘A Separation’ deserving of Golden Globe‘
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By Robin Pomeroy and Hashem Kalantari TEHRAN | Tue Jan 17, 2012 9:04am EST
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Director Asghar Farhadi and lead actor Peyman Moadi pose with the Golden Globe for “Best Foreign Language Film.†The film has been nominated for an Academy Awards in the same category and for “Best Screenplay.†MCT CAMPUS
Writer-director Asghar Farhadi’s Golden Globe-winning drama, “A Separation,†uses the titular separation of a married couple to expose the systemic failures caused by Iran’s Kafkaesque legal institutions.
With the widespread protests (and subsequent crackdowns) following President Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection in 2009-2010, the solidarity protests with the Arab Spring last year, as well as the heavy-handed government censorship and regulation of Iran’s film industry, it is remarkable a film this challenging was made at all.
Nader (Peyman Moadi) refuses to grant his wife Simin (Leila Hatami) a divorce so she can leave the country with their 11-year-old daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi). Simin believes the situation in Iran is untenable and she has an obligation to provide better opportunities for their daughter while Nader is obligated to care for his Alzheimer’s-stricken father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi). When the judge sides with Nader and refuses the divorce, Simin moves out and Nader is forced to hire an impoverished, devoutly religious caretaker, Razieh (Sareh Bayat), for his father.
Shortly after, Nader comes home early to find his father tied to the bed, money missing from his drawer and Razieh nowhere to be found. When Razieh returns with no explanation and a demand to be paid for her daily wages, Nader pushes her out of his apartment. The situation escalates as Nader learns that Razieh is in the emergency room and Razieh’s out-of-work husband (Shahab Hosseini) accuses Nader of putting her there. Either Nader must pay an exorbitant blood price or face the capricious Iranian court system, risking a lengthy prison sentence with no one to care for his father. The question of whether Nader caused the injury or if Razieh is merely attempting to extort money from him forces the audience to separate truth from lies and question what exactly was shown to them.
In addition to a failing marriage, “A Separation†examines religious divides and distrust along gender and class lines as each character fails to understand the perspective of others. Throughout the film characters communicate through windows and doors that provide a physical manifestation of the emotional barriers between them. Director Asghar Farhadi cleverly uses Nader’s front door slamming shut on Razieh as the ultimate expression of separation and the cause of all his subsequent legal problems.
However, Farhadi’s most inspired directing in the film is the single-take opening shot in which Nader and Simin argue their cases for divorce directly into the camera, forcing the viewer into the role of judge. As the story reveals new insight into the characters’ motivations, Farhadi challenges the audience’s prejudices while commenting on the limitations of the Iranian justice system to find the truth in the midst of social upheaval.
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 8/14/2012
Two earthquakes in Iran kill more than 300 and injure 5,000
Overcrowded hospitals in northwest Iran struggled to cope with thousands of earthquake victims on Sunday as rescuers raced to reach remote villages after two powerful quakes killed nearly 300 people. |
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 8/13/2012
Iranian wrestlers win 2 bronze medals
Iranian wrestlers Ehsan Naser Lashgari and Komeil Qasemi have won bronze medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games. |
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 8/6/2012
Iran to exhibit works by Gunther Uecker
Iran is planning to exhibit works by modern German sculptor and installation artist Gunther Uecker at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts. The event will be held from September 16 to November 1, 2012 ... |
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 8/4/2012
"When Artists Attack the King: Honoré Daumier and La Caricature, 1830-1835" opens at Cantor Arts Center
STANFORD, CA.- Long before iranian cartoonist Mahmoud Shokraiyeh was sentenced to 25 lashings for drawing a parliament member in a soccer jersey, 19th-century caricaturist Honoré Daumier and his colleagues ... |
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 8/1/2012
Farhadi’s film takes N America by storm
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning film A Separation has taken the North America’s movie theaters by storm as the second top-grossing foreign-language film in 2012. |
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 7/30/2012
London to exhibit installation by Iran’s Shirin Sabahi
The Saatchi Gallery is slated to display an installation work created by the Iranian artist Shirin Sabahi in the British capital of London.
The event is part of the 2011 Contemporary Art Prize (CAP) ... |
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 7/24/2012
US, Iranian team excavate Siraf
A team of American and Iranian archaeologists has launched underwater excavations at the historical port of Siraf in the Persian Gulf. |
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 7/22/2012
Mutatis Mutandis: Group show curated by Cathrine David opens at Vienna's Secession
VIENNA.- Mutatis Mutandis brings together a number of works that explore the complexity of contemporary events, materiality, history, and memories, and propose possible re-presentations. Discontinuous ... |
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 7/7/2012
The 2nd Tehran Annual Digital Art Exhibition [TADAEX] was opened on Friday, July 6th.
The first day of The 2nd Tehran Annual Digital Art Exhibition [TADAEX] was opened among the unexpected attendance of the audience. |
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 7/2/2012
UNESCO registers Isfahan Friday Mosque
Isfahan’s Friday Mosque has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, making it the 14th Iranian site registered on the roll. The independent, 21-member World Heritage Committee announced the ... |
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