Iran’s Oscar-winning “A Separation” opens Beijing festival

TEHRAN,April 24(MNA) -- The Oscar-winning Iranian film “A Separation” opened the 2nd Beijing International Film Festival on Monday. Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation” won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 2012 Academy Awards in February. Over 260 films from across the globe will go on screen during the six-day Beijing event, in which James Cameron’s “Titanic” and Tom DeSanto’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” are observed, Persian news agencies reported on Monday. Two more Iranian movies, “Here without Me” directed by Bahram Tavakkoli and “The Murderer” by Reza Karimi, are also entries to the Panorama section of the festival. Chinese Ambassador to Tehran Yu Hongyang at the head of a Chinese cinematic delegation visited the Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance early April, and invited director Farhadi and the cast members of the movie to the festival. Cameron and DeSanto are also expected to give talks on film franchises and 3-D movies, of increasing importance since the Beijing government in February relaxed restrictions on the number of U.S.-made and large-format films, like IMAX movies, that can play in Chinese theaters and the amount of revenue they can return abroad, the festival website reported. Premiered in Iran with the title “Nader and Simin, a Separation”, the film won Crystal Simorghs in five categories at the Fajr festival, including the best director and best screenwriter awards. The film repeated its success at the Berlinale 2011, where Farhadi received a Golden Bear for best film and its cast ensemble received Silver Bears for best actor and actress. The film also brought Farhadi and his colleagues many major and minor awards at other international events. “A Separation” tells the story of a middle-class urban couple that is planning to divorce.