Golshifteh Farahani

Golshifteh Farahani (Persian: گلشیفته فراهانی‎‎, also Romanized as Golŝifte Farāhāni and Golšifteh Farāhāni, born 10 July 1983) is an Iranian actress, musician and singer who lives in France. Golshifteh has acted in 25 films, many of which have received international recognition. For Boutique she won the Best Actress award from the 26th Nantes Three Continents Festival (France). In recent years she has acted in movies by some of Iran's most well-known directors. The movies include Dariush Mehrjui's Santouri (The Santoor Player), Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon (winner of the Golden Shell at the 2006 San Sebastian Film Festival), and the late Rasool Mollagholipoor's M for Mother (Iran's nominee for the 2008 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category). Golshifteh won Best Actress at the 37th Roshd International Film Festival.

Following her acting in the U.S. film Body of Lies, she reportedly had been prevented by Iranian authorities from leaving Iran.^[1] However, this was denied by her colleagues and she later appeared at the movie's premiere in the U.S.^[2] Golshifteh's last film performance in Iran was in About Elly directed by Asghar Farhadi. The film won Best Picture at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival; it won a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.^[3]

Early life

Golshifteh Farahani was born on 10 July 1983 in Tehran, the daughter of Behzad Farahani, a theater director and actor, and Fahimeh Rahim Nia. Her sister is actress Shaghayegh Farahani.^[4] Golshifteh, who started studying music and playing the piano at the age of five, later entered a music school in Tehran. At 14, Golshifteh was cast as the lead in Dariush Mehrjui's The Pear Tree. For that work she won the Crystal Roc for Best Actress from the International Section of the 16th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.^[5]

Non film work

Golshifteh Farahani during an interview with BBC Persian

Besides acting, Golshifteh is involved in environmental activities; she has also become an ambassador for fighting tuberculosis in Iran.^[6] In Iran, Golshifteh was part of an underground rock band named "Kooch Neshin" (Nomads), which won the 2nd Tehran Avenue underground rock competition. Since leaving Iran, she has continued her music career as well, teaming up with another exiled Iranian musician, Mohsen Namjoo. Their album Oy^[7] was released in October 2009.

In December 2014, she took the 6th place in the Annual Independent Critics Beauty List of 2014.^[8] Golshifteh now lives in Paris, France.^[9] Since moving to Paris, she has worked with directors including Roland Joffe, Hiner Saleem and Marjane Satrapi. She has also been a member of the international jury at the 63rd Locarno Film Festival.

2012–present

The movie The Patience Stone (2012), directed by Atiq Rahimi from his novel, has received a majority of positive reviews^[10] upon its release. One of her upcoming movies is Rumi's Kimia.^[11] Still in development, it is directed by Dariush Mehrjui and is based on the novel "Kimia Khatoon", by Saideh Ghods. Golshifteh also starred in a 2012 César Award's video in the Most Promising Actors category.

In 2016, Golshifteh played Anna Karenina on stage in Paris and received great reviews from all the French press. In 2017, Golshifteh is slated to appear in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales with Johnny Depp.^[12]

Controversy

In January 2012, it was reported that Golshifteh would not be welcome in her homeland after posing nude in the French Madame Figaro.^[13] Britain's Daily Telegraph reported that government officials told Golshifteh that "Iran does not need actors or artists like you. You may offer your artistic services somewhere else."^[14] A picture from the shoot on her Facebook page initiated a lively debate about her behavior.^[15] She also appeared topless in a short black-and-white film by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, called Corps et Âmes, or Bodies and Souls.^[16]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Theater performance

Music video

Concerts

See also

• Iranian women
• List of Iranian actresses
• Cinema of Iran

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Golshifteh Farahani.

• Official website
• Golshifteh Farahani at the Internet Movie Database