# Golshifteh Farahani

Rahavard Farahani (Persian: رهاورد فراهانی; born 10 July 1983), known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani (گلشیفته فراهانی), is an Iranian and French actress. She is known for her performances in M for Mother (2006), Body of Lies (2008), About Elly (2009), The Patience Stone (2012), Paterson (2016), Girls of the Sun (2018), Extraction (2020) and its sequel Extraction 2 (2023), and Invasion (2021–present). She was nominated for the Most Promising Actress Award for The Patience Stone at the 2014 César Awards.

## Early life

Farahani was born in Tehran, Iran. She is the daughter of Behzad Farahani, a theatre director and actor, and Fahimeh Rahim Nia. Her sister is actress Shaghayegh Farahani. The name Golshifteh was invented by her father and means "loving flower", whereas her legal name is Rahavard, and means "gift of the road". She began studying music and piano at the age of five, and later entered a music school in Tehran. At 14, she was cast as the lead in Dariush Mehrjui's The Pear Tree, a role for which she won the Crystal Roc for Best Actress from the International Section of the 16th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.

## Career

Farahani starred in the drama About Elly, which won Best Picture at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Due to her appearance in the Hollywood movie Body of Lies, seen by Iranian authorities as a collaboration with American propaganda and a violation of Islamic law due to Farahani's appearance without hijab, she has not been allowed to return and work in Iran since 2009, and has since resided in France. Since moving to Paris, she has worked with directors Roland Joffé, Huner Saleem and Marjane Satrapi, among others, and was a member of the international jury at the 63rd Locarno Film Festival. Farahani starred in The Patience Stone (2012), directed by Atiq Rahimi from his novel; it was favorably received by most reviewers. She also starred in a 2012 César Award video in the Most Promising Actors category.
In 2016, Farahani played Anna Karenina on stage in Paris and received laudatory reviews. She also played the lead role of Laura in director Jim Jarmusch's American feature film Paterson, opposite actor Adam Driver. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews, scoring 96% approval on the movie site Rotten Tomatoes.
In 2017, she appeared in the fantasy film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales as the sea witch Shansa.
In 2020, she was in the action film Extraction as Nik Khan.
She was slated to appear in director Dariush Mehrjui's film Rumi's Kimia, which will be based on Saideh Ghods's novel Kimia Khatoon.

### Non-film work

Farahani is involved in environmental causes, and is an advocate for the eradication of tuberculosis in Iran.
In Iran, she was a member of Kooch Neshin (Nomads), a band that won the 2nd Tehran Avenue underground rock competition. Since leaving Iran, she has teamed up with another exiled Iranian musician, Mohsen Namjoo; their album Oy was released in October 2009.
In December 2014, she took 6th place in the annual Independent Critics Beauty List of 2014.
Farahani, who has been exiled from Iran since 2008 for refusing to wear a hijab while acting in international films, has publicly supported the Mahsa Amini protests. On 28 October 2022, British rock band Coldplay invited Farahani to perform with them a cover of Shervin Hajipour's Baraye, which has been described as "the anthem" of the protests, at the band's concert at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires. The concert was broadcast live to over 3,500 theatres worldwide in more than 70 countries as part of a two-night-only live-event cinema special during the Latin America leg of the band's Music of the Spheres World Tour.

## Controversy

After Farahani's appearance in the U.S. film Body of Lies, it was reported that Iranian government authorities had prevented her from leaving Iran. However, this was denied by her colleagues, and she appeared at the movie's American premiere. Her last film performance in Iran was in About Elly directed by Asghar Farhadi.
In January 2012, it was reported that Farahani would not be welcome in her native Iran after posing nude in the French magazine Madame Figaro. According to Britain's Daily Telegraph, Iranian government officials told her, "Iran does not need actors or artists like you. You may offer your artistic services somewhere else." A picture from the shoot on her Facebook page initiated a lively debate about her behavior. She also appeared topless in a short black-and-white film by Jean-Baptiste Mondino called Corps et Âmes (Bodies and Souls). She also posed for fully nude photographs taken by Paolo Roversi for an Égoïste cover and editorial.

## Personal life

In 2003, Farahani married Amin Mahdavi, the brother of interior designer India Mahdavi, and from whom she later separated. She was also in a relationship with Louis Garrel, who directed and co-starred with her in Two Friends (2015). In a September 2015 interview published in Grazia, Farahani revealed that she had married Christos Dorje Walker, an Australian, five months earlier. As of May 2018, she was in a relationship with a "German hippie" who she met in the Nevada desert at the Burning Man festival".
In November 2017, after living in Paris for eight years, she moved to Ibiza, splitting her time between there and Porto, Portugal. She had previously indicated her intent to leave France, explaining that she was severely impacted by the bureaucracy and banking system.

## Filmography
### Film

Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1998 | The Pear Tree | Mitra | Dariush Mehrjui | |
| 2001 | Seven Acts | Fereshteh | Farzad Motamen | |
| 2002 | Zamaneh | Zamaneh | Hamid Reza Salahmand | |
| 2003 | Two Angels | Azar | Mohammad Haghighat | |
| 2004 | Somewhere Else | Raha | Mehdi Karampour | |
| 2004 | Boutique | Eti | Hamid Nematollah | |
| 2004 | The Tear of the Cold | Ronak | Azizollah Hamidnejad | |
| 2005 | The Fish Fall in Love | Touka | Ali Rafie | |
| 2005 | Bab'Aziz | Noor | Nacer Khemir | |
| 2006 | Gis Borideh | Maryam | Jamshid Heidari | |
| 2006 | In the Name of the Father | Habibeh | Ebrahim Hatamikia | |
| 2006 | Half Moon | Niwemang | Bahman Ghobadi | |
| 2006 | M for Mother | Sepideh | Rasoul Mollagholipour | |
| 2007 | The Music Man | Hanieh | Dariush Mehrjui | |
| 2007 | To Each His Own Cinema | Herself | Abbas Kiarostami | |
| 2008 | The Wall | Setareh | Mohammad Ali Talebi | |
| 2008 | There's Always a Woman in Between | Maryam | Kamal Tabrizi | |
| 2008 | Shirin | Woman in audience | Abbas Kiarostami | |
| 2008 | Body of Lies | Aisha | Ridley Scott | |
| 2009 | About Elly | Sepideh | Asghar Farhadi | |
| 2011 | If You Die, I'll Kill You | Siba | Huner Saleem | |
| 2011 | There Be Dragons | Leila | Roland Joffé | |
| 2011 | Chicken With Plums | Iran | Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud | |
| 2012 | The Patience Stone | The Woman | Atiq Rahimi | |
| 2012 | Just Like a Woman | Mona | Rachid Bouchareb | |
| 2013 | My Sweet Pepper Land | Govend | Huner Saleem | |
| 2014 | Rosewater | Maryam Bahari | Jon Stewart | |
| 2014 | Eden | Yasmin | Mia Hansen-Løve | |
| 2014 | Exodus: Gods and Kings | Nefertari | Ridley Scott | |
| 2015 | Two Friends | Mona | Louis Garrel | |
| 2015 | Go Home | Nada | Jihane Chouaib | |
| 2016 | Sophie's Misfortunes | Madame de Réan | Christophe Honoré | |
| 2016 | Finding Altamira | Conchita | Hugh Hudson | |
| 2016 | Paterson | Laura | Jim Jarmusch | |
| 2017 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales | Shansa | Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg | |
| 2017 | The Song of Scorpions | Nooran | Anup Singh | |
| 2017 | Shelter | Mona | Eran Riklis | |
| 2017 | The Upside | Maggie | Neil Burger | |
| 2017 | Santa & Cie | Amélie | Alain Chabat | |
| 2018 | The Night Eats the World | Sarah | Dominique Rocher | |
| 2018 | Girls of the Sun | Bahar | Eva Husson | |
| 2019 | Blind Spot | Elham | Patrick-Mario Bernard, Pierre Trividic | |
| 2019 | Arab Blues | Selma Derwich | Manele Labidi | |
| 2020 | Extraction | Nik Khan | Sam Hargrave | |
| 2022 | Brother and Sister | Faunia Vuillard | Arnaud Desplechin | |
| 2022 | My Father's Dragon | Dela Elevator | Nora Twomey | Voice only |
| 2022 | A Romantic Comedy | Salomé | Thibault Segouin | |
| 2023 | Extraction 2 | Nik Khan | Sam Hargrave | |
| 2024 | Hood Witch | Nour | Saïd Belktibia | |
| 2024 | Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust | 242B | Ishan Shukla | Voice only |
| 2024 | William Tell | Suna | Nick Hamm | |
| 2024 | Reading Lolita in Tehran | Azar Nafisi | Eran Riklis | |
| TBA | The Thing That Hurts | | Arnaud Desplechin | |
| TBA | Alpha | | Julia Ducournau | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2018–2021 | Gen:Lock | Yasamin 'Yaz' Madrani | Voice only |
| 2021 | VTC | Nora | Main role, 5 episodes Also known as Surge |
| 2021–present | Invasion | Aneesha Malik | Main role, 20 episodes |

### Music video

| Year | Song | Artist | Notes |
| 2014 | "Pola" | Jabberwocky | |
| 2018 | "Paradis" | Orelsan | |

## Theatre

| Year | Play | Role | Notes |
| 2003 | Maryam and Mardavij | Mayan | |
| 2004 | The Black Narcissus | | Workshop |
| 2005 | Mofatesh (The Inspector) | Firoozeh | Banned in Iran |
| 2013 | A Private Dream | Sarah | Toured North America (March–April 2013) |
| 2016 | Anna Karenina | Anna Karenina | Toured around France and in Paris at the Théâtre de la Tempête directed by Gaëtan Vassart |

## Concerts

| Date | Venue | Notes |
| 10 August 2009 | Sala Verdi, Milan Conservatory | With Mohsen Namjoo, presentation of the new album Oy |
| 9 November 2009 | Lido, Venice | With Mohsen Namjoo, during the Venice Film Festival |
| 28 October 2022 | River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires | Guest appearance at Coldplay's Music of the Spheres, performed Baraye |

## Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination :
| Award | Year | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
| Abu Dhabi Film Festival | 2012 | Best Actress – New Horizons | The Patience Stone | Won |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 2009 | Best Performance by an Actress | About Elly | Nominated |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 2013 | Best Performance by an Actress | My Sweet Pepper Land | Nominated |
| Asian Film Awards | 2013 | Best Actress | The Patience Stone | Nominated |
| Asian Film Awards | 2013 | People's Choice for Best Actress | The Patience Stone | Nominated |
| Asolo Art Film Festival | 2008 | Eleonora Duse Award | Herself | Won |
| Chlotrudis Awards | 2018 | Best Supporting Actress | Paterson | Nominated |
| César Awards | 2014 | Most Promising Actress | The Patience Stone | Nominated |
| Fajr International Film Festival | 1998 | Best Actress – International Competition | The Pear Tree | Won |
| Fajr International Film Festival | 2004 | Best Actress in a Leading Role – National Competition | The Tear of the Cold | Nominated |
| Fajr International Film Festival | 2008 | Best Actress in a Leading Role – National Competition | There's Always a Woman in Between | Nominated |
| Gijón International Film Festival | 2012 | Best Actress | The Patience Stone | Won |
| Hafez Awards | 2005 | Best Actress – Motion Picture | The Tear of the Cold | Won |
| Hafez Awards | 2007 | Best Actress – Motion Picture | M for Mother | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2011 | Best Actress – Motion Picture | About Elly | Nominated |
| Indiana Film Journalists Association US | 2016 | Best Supporting Actress | Paterson | Nominated |
| International Online Cinema Awards | 2015 | Best Actress | About Elly | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2004 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | The Tear of the Cold | Won |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2004 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Boutique | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2005 | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | The Fish Fall in Love | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2006 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | M for Mother | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2010 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | About Elly | Nominated |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2008 | Best Actress in a Leading Role | The Wall | Nominated |
| Kazan International Film Festival | 2006 | Best Actress | The Tear of the Cold | Won |
| Kazan International Film Festival | 2008 | Best Actress | M for Mother | Won |
| Kowsar Film Festival | 2007 | Best Actress | M for Mother | Won |
| Lumière Awards | 2016 | Best Female Revelation | Two Friends | Nominated |
| Nantes Three Continents Festival | 2004 | Best Actress | Boutique | Won |
| Roshd International Film Festival | 2007 | Best Actress | M for Mother | Won |
| Stony Brook Film Festival | 2014 | Outstanding Performance | My Sweet Pepper Land | Nominated |