Little Art Theatre

Drama. 123 minutes. PG-13. In Persian with English subtitles. 2011

Synopsis for A Separation:Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (and a nominee for Best Original Screenplay), "A Separation" is a compelling drama about the dissolution of a marriage in contemporary Iran. Simin (Leila Hatami) wants to leave Iran to provide better opportunities for her daughter. When her husband Nader (Peyman Moadi) refuses to leave behind his Alzheimer-suffering father, Simin sues for divorce. But her request fails, so she returns to her parents’ home--without her daughter. Nader hires a young woman to assist with his father in his wife’s absence, hoping that his life will return to a normal state. However, when he discovers that the new maid has been lying to him, he realizes that there is more on the line than just his marriage. Winner of four awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, including the Golden Bear for Best Film. Roger Ebert called "A Separation" the best film of 2011.

“The film is a singular achievement, a piece of realist cinema with the pull of a suspense thriller.”—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

“The movie has such a profound and compassionate understanding of human behavior, family ties and the way ordinary people respond when they’re forced into a moral quandary, I can’t imagine anyone not being transfixed by it.”—Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald

“A great movie, a look inside a world so foreign that it might as well be another planet, yet so universal that its observations are painfully familiar to anyone, anywhere.”—Arizona Republic

“Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation serves as a quiet reminder of how good it’s possible for movies to be.”—Dana Stevens, Slate

“However ripe A Separation might seem for being adapted into a smart American film, Hollywood shouldn’t bother. Farhadi’s movie is just about perfect as it is.”—Richard Corliss, Time Magazine