The inability to leave the past behind while trying to carve out a new future is the recipe for drama in Director Asghar Farhadi’s The Past.
In this French/Iranian co-production, an Iranian man (Ali Mosaffa) returns to Paris to sign the divorce papers from his French wife (Bérénice Bejo) who is planning to marry a new man (Tahar Rahim). Things get even more complicated when his daughter accuses her mother of a heinous act in order to sustain her new relationship.
The Past (Le passé) earned multiple honors at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival including a "Best Actress" prize for Bérénice Bejo, an "Ecumenical Jury" prize for Director Asghar Farhadi, and a nomination for the prestigious Palme d'Or. The film is also Iran’s official submission for the upcoming Academy Awards.
Following the screening in the DGA Theater in Los Angeles on November 13, Farhadi discussed the challenges of making The Past in a conversation moderated by Global Cinema subcommittee Chair Victoria Hochberg (The Chris Isaak Show).
Farhadi’s other films include the feature films Dancing in the Dust, Beautiful City, Fireworks Wednesday, About Elly, and the 2012 Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film winner A Separation.
The DGA Special Projects Global Cinema subcommittee members are: Victoria Hochberg (Chair), Jon Amiel, Kathryn Bigelow, Jim Drake, Alexander Payne, Barbara Roche, and Arthur Allan Seidelman.