Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2013: #77. Asghar Farhadi’s The Past

Published on January 11, 2013

The Past

Director: Asghar Farhadi
Producer(s): Memento Films’ Alexandre Mallet-Guy
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Bérénice Bejo and Tahar Rahim

Despite the few details we know on this immigrant romantic drama (Bérénice Bejo and Tahar Rahim topline in a Parisian backdrop), we can definitely grade this as a must see based on the critical adoration Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation both warranted and received. Tabulating the results: the Berlin Film Festival crowned the film with several prizes including the Golden Bear, and it was awarded an Oscar for Best Foreign Picture. Future looks bright for this Iranian filmmaker.

Gist: This is the love story between an Iranian girl and North African boy set against the backdrop of Paris.

Release Date: This receives a May theatrical release in France – all signs point to a premiere In Competition showing in Cannes and look for Sony Pictures Classics to be keen on picking up this title.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).