Asghar Farhadi was born in 1972 in Iran. He became interested in cinema when he was a teenager 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 Bachelors in Theater from the School of Dramatic Arts in Tehran University in 1998 and his Masters in Stage Direction a few years later.

Farhadi made his directorial debut em 2003 with Dance In The Dust and a year later presented Beautiful City. His third film, Fireworks Wednesday (2006), won the Gold Hugo at the 2006 Chicago International Film Festival. His fourth film, About Elly (2009), won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival, as well as Best Picture at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was also Iran's official submission for the Foreign Language Film competition of the Academy Awards in 2009.

His next film, A Separation (2011) , became an international sensation. It got critical acclaim inside and outside of Iran and was awarded the Golden Bear for Best Film at the Berlin International Film Festival. 

It went on to win Best Foreign Language Film from The Boston Society of Film Critics, and awards from both the Chicago and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. 

Adding up to these awards are some others from various entities like the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Board of Review, the Golden Globes, the César Award, the Independent Spirit Award, and ultimately the Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, making him the first Iranian filmmaker ever to win an Oscar. The film also earned Asghar a nomination for Best Writing, Original Screenplay.

Made in Iran, The Salesman (2016) received the Best Screenwriter prize at the Cannes Film Festival and brought him the second Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

His film Everybody Knows (2018) was shot in Spain and in Spanish, with a cast led by Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz. It premiered at this year’s edition of Cannes Film Festivalas the opening creening and received great acclaim.