Asghar Farhadi Quotes

Iran, Film Director
May 7, 1972

Asghar Farhadi (Persian: اصغر فرهادی‎; Persian pronunciation: [æsɢæɾ fæɾhɑdiː] About this sound pronunciation (help·info) born 7 May 1972) is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. Among other awards, he has received a Golden Globe Award as well as 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 world-wide 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.

Also known as Screenwriter

For me, character comes from a specific condition or situation. I cannot really define a character outside that situation.

Asghar Farhadi
- Character
Working with children is very different than the way in which I work with adults. One has to work just as much with children as with adults, but the manner of work is very different. I never tell the children the actual truth of the thing that I want them to act.

Asghar Farhadi
- Work
- Different
- Children

Often times, music is used to evoke an emotion and it's become a cliche, so I don't want to do that, and actually what I do, is that emotional intensity that has developed throughout the film, I allow it to get released by having that music at the end with the credits.

Asghar Farhadi
- Music
- Emotional
In most cultures, men represent tradition and women represent change and future. Women, because of their ability to give birth, are more connected to future. Men tend to keep the status quo.

Asghar Farhadi
- Men
- Women
- Future
Iranian filmmakers are not passive. They fight whenever they can, as creative expression means a lot to them. The restrictions and censorship in Iran are a bit like the British weather: one day it's sunny, the next day it's raining. You just have to hope you walk out into the sunshine.

Asghar Farhadi
- Hope
- Sunshine
I tend to jot down moments, lines, interactions that don't really make any sense. I try and explain these scattered notes to my close friends, and they become more and more logical. I see screenwriting as a bit like a math equation which I have to solve.

Asghar Farhadi
- Friends
- Moments
- Math
Poetry, especially traditional Iranian poetry, is very good at looking at things from a number of different angles simultaneously.

Asghar Farhadi
- Good
- Different
- Poetry