A Separation

This utterly compelling, emotionally resonant drama from Asghar Farhadi - director of About Elly (SFF 2009) - was awarded Best Film and both acting prizes for its superb ensemble cast at the Berlin Film Festival. Not exactly out-of-love, Nader and Simin are attempting to divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. They have acquired visas to emigrate from Iran - Simin is anxious to ensure a better future for their 10-year-old daughter Termeh, but Nader refuses to leave his elderly father who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. When the judge refuses to formalise their separation, Simin resolutely departs the family home, leaving the obstinate Nader to contract the services of a housekeeper. Razieh is a devout, impoverished woman who tends to the apartment and Nader's father with her own four-year-old daughter in tow. When Nader returns one day to find his father alone and compromised, his fury leads to an altercation that has unexpected and devastating consequences. Propelled by an acute attention to class, religious and gender differences, Farhadi's mathematically precise script interrogates the very basis of truth and ethics, its imploding narrative movement the perfect metaphor for the social and political discord that plagues contemporary Iran.

Australian Premiere

Watch A Separation trailer here.

• Awards Best Film, Best Actress (ensemble) and Best Actor (ensemble), Berlin Film Festival; Best Film and Audience Award, Fajr Film Festival
• Director's Bio Asghar Farhadi was born in Iran and graduated with a master’s degree in film from Tehran University. He won Best Director at the 2009 Berlinale for About Elly. His other films include Dancing in the Dust and Fireworks Wednesday.