TEHRAN-Celebrated Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi will serve as a jury member at the upcoming Tribeca Festival, due to be held from June 5 to 16 in New York City, the U.S.

The 23rd festival has 17 competition categories in which jurors will honor winning creators with artistic awards. Farhadi will be on the jury for the international narrative feature competition category, the 30nama website reported.

Considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Iran and world cinema in the 21st century, Farhadi, 52, became interested in cinema in his teenage years and started his education in filmmaking by joining the Youth Cinema Society of Esfahan in 1986 where he made 8mm and 16mm short films. He received his Bachelor of Dramatic Arts at the University of Tehran in 1998 and his Masters in Stage Direction a few years later.

Farhadi made his directorial debut with “Dancing in the Dust” in 2002. After the global success of “About Elly” (2009), for which he won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlinale, Farhadi gained international recognition and critical acclaim with “A Separation” (2011), receiving no less than seventy awards, including an Academy Award and a César for Best Foreign Film. 

He then left Iran for France to shoot “The Past” (2013), which won Bérénice Bejo the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013. Back in Iran, he directed “The Salesman” in 2016. It premiered in competition at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where the film won Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Shahab Hosseini). The film became Farhadi’s biggest success and earned him the second Academy Award of his career. His latest film, “A Hero” (2021) won the Grand Prix at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

Farhadi is on the list of directors who have won the Best Foreign Film Oscar more than once. The others are Vittorio de Sica and Federico Fellini (four times each), Ingmar Bergman (three times), and René Clément and Akira Kurosawa (twice each).

Almost all of Farhadi’s films have won awards at every festival where they were displayed. According to critics, his scripts are deep sociological, psychological, and philosophical studies of problems that are universal in society, and his films have gained recognition because of their focus on the human condition and because they describe intimate and challenging stories about family conflicts.

More than 30 industry leaders have been selected to honor feature-length and short film categories, composed of narrative and documentary films at this year’s edition of Tribeca Festival.

This year’s festival jury includes a diverse roster of groundbreaking filmmakers, award-winning actors, celebrated multi-hyphenate producers, and leaders from entertainment, including David O. Russell, Selma Blair, Kim Cattrall, Chinonye Chukwu, Nisha Pahuja, Nikyatu Jusu, Sheila Nevins, Francesca Scorsese, Clara McGregor, and more. 

The Tribeca Festival, presented by OKX, brings artists and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, music, audio storytelling, games, and immersive. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is synonymous with creative expression and entertainment. Tribeca champions emerging and established voices discovers award-winning talent, curates innovative experiences, and introduces new ideas through exclusive premieres, exhibitions, conversations, and live performances.

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