Golshifteh Farahani

Golshifteh started her acting career in theater at the age of 6 and has always kept a strong link with theater, but it was at the age of 14 that she acted in her first film 梨子樹 (1998), for which she won the prize for the Best Actress from the international section of the Fajr film festival, immediately making her one of the stars of Iranian cinema. Since then she has played in more than 15 films, many of which have been screened or awarded at international festivals. Amongst her latest films are 巴赫曼·戈巴迪's 半月交響曲 (2006) (winner of the Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián film festival 2006), 達裏烏什·梅赫爾朱伊's controversial 揚琴手 (2007), still banned in Iran, and the late Rasool Mollagholi Poor's Mim mesle madar (2006), which after a huge success in Iran was chosen to represent Iran for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards in 2008. After playing in 謊言之軀 (2008) by 雷德利·斯科特, Golshifteh became the first Iranian star to act in a major Hollywood production. Subsequently she was banned from leaving her country. Her last film in Iran Darbareye Elly (2009) won a Silver Bear in Berlin and the Best Narrative Feature at Tribeca (2009). Golshifteh graduated from music school, she sings and plays the piano amongst other instruments. She is also fluent in French and English and lives in Paris now.