TEHRAN – Two-time Academy Award-winning director Asghar Farhadi will be honored by Variety with the Creative Impact in Directing Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on January 7, 2022.

The leading voice of the entertainment industry gives the honor as part of its annual 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards brunch at the Parker Palm Springs, the organizers have announced.

Farhadi will be celebrated for his latest drama “A Hero” and his entire body of works, including “A Separation”, “Everybody Knows”, and “The Salesman”.

“With ‘A Hero’, Oscar-winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi reaffirms his place at the forefront of international writer-directors,” said Variety’s Executive Vice President of Content, Steven Gaydos.

“The film’s Grand Prix award at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival was only the beginning of its international acclaim. As with ‘A Separation’ and ‘The Salesman’ Farhadi has again elicited praise from film critics and awards voters who value Farhadi’s now-trademark virtues of densely layered screenplays and complex, sophisticated performances, all in the hands of a master of understated direction and compelling, thoughtful humanism,” he added.

This year’s 10 Directors to Watch include Aitch Alberto (“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”), Mariama Diallo (“Master”), Audrey Diwan (“Happening”), Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Lost Daughter”), Tatiana Huezo (“Prayers for the Stolen”), Nikyatu Jusu (“Nanny”), Megan Park (“The Fallout”), Cooper Raiff (“Cha Cha Real Smooth”), Goran Stolevski (“You Won’t Be Alone”) and Krystin Ver Linden (“Alice”).

Past recipients of the Creative Impact in Directing Award include Ryan Coogler, Patty Jenkins, Rob Marshall, Steve Mc Queen, Jeff Nichols, Todd Phillips and more. 

“A Hero”, which also made the list of eligible films for the 94th Academy Awards in the International Feature Film category, will be screened at the 33rd Palm Springs International Film Festival, which will take place from January 6 to 17, 2022.

“Ballad of a White Cow” by Behtash Sanaeiha and Maryam Moqaddam, and “Radiograph of a Family” by Firuzeh Khosravani, both by Iranian filmmakers, will compete in the various categories of the festival.

Photo: Director Asghar Farhadi attends the 74th Cannes Film Festival on July 14, 2021 to promote his latest film “A Hero”. (Reuters)

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