Asghar Farhadi heads to Dubai for scriptwriting masterclass

There can’t be many opportunities for wannabe scriptwriters to get direct tuition from a genuine Oscar winner. But that’s what will be happening in Dubai next week when Asghar Farhadi comes to town for a three-day workshop. Organised by Documentary Voices, with support from the Gulf Film Festival, the masterclasses for regional filmmakers will be held in Internet City from Monday to Wednesday, and will guide budding writers from idea to script. Farhadi picked up the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar last year for A Separation; the film was also nominated in the Best Original Screenplay category but the gong eventually went to Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris. Since then, Farhadi has been nominated as one of the world’s most influential people by Time magazine and has been working on the film The Past, his follow-up to A Separation. The Past was shot in Paris and stars Tahar Rahim (A Prophet), Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) and Ali Mosaffa (The Last Step). It is Farhadi’s first filmmaking experience in a foreign country and is reportedly set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.