{ "id": "epx68cd19m", "slug": "the-past-2013-film", "title": "The Past (گذشته) (2013 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014", "label": "Drama films 2010 to 2014", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014.psychological-and-social-drama-films", "label": "Psychological and social drama films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014.psychological-and-social-drama-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020: Drama films 2010 to 2014", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014", "label": "Drama films 2010 to 2014", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Past (Le Passé; گذشته) is Asghar Farhadi's 2013 French-Italian drama, his first film outside Iran, starring Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, and Ali Mosaffa; it won Best Actress and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at Cannes 2013.", "snippet": "The Past (Le Passé; گذشته) is Asghar Farhadi's 2013 French-Italian drama, his first film outside Iran, starring Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, and Ali Mosaffa; it won Best Actress and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at Cannes 2013.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014.psychological-and-social-drama-films", "markdown": "# The Past (گذشته) (2013 film)\n\n**The Past** (French: *Le Passé*; Persian: گذشته) is a 2013 French-Italian drama film written and directed by [Asghar Farhadi](https://www.edgepedia.org/asghar-farhadi), his first film made outside Iran and his first in the [French language](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-language), which he does not speak.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/le-passe/) • [2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/) It competed for the [Palme d'Or](https://www.edgepedia.org/palme-dor) at the 66th Cannes Film Festival, where Bérénice Bejo won the Award for Best Actress and the film received the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404461/awards/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and writer | Asghar Farhadi, who also wrote the screenplay; script adaptation by Massoumeh Lahidji[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/le-passe/) • [4](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/thepast_presskit.pdf) |\n| Production | France and Italy, 2013; produced by Alexandre Mallet-Guy for Memento Production with France 3 Cinéma and BIM Distribuzione[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/le-passe/) • [5](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235767/) |\n| Running time | 130 minutes; French and Persian dialogue[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/le-passe/) • [4](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/thepast_presskit.pdf) |\n| Cannes 2013 | In Competition; Best Actress (Bérénice Bejo) and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury; Palme d'Or nominee[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404461/awards/) |\n| Principal cast | Bérénice Bejo (Marie), Tahar Rahim (Samir), Ali Mosaffa (Ahmad), Pauline Burlet (Lucie), Elyes Aguis (Fouad), Jeanne Jestin (Léa)[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/le-passe/) |\n| French release | 15 May 2013; around one million admissions in France[5](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235767/) • [6](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/03/47142.pdf) |\n| Oscar submission | Iran's official selection for the 86th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film[4](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/thepast_presskit.pdf) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nAfter a four-year separation, Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) returns to Paris from Tehran at the request of his estranged French wife Marie ([Bérénice Bejo](https://www.edgepedia.org/berenice-bejo)) to finalize their divorce so that she can marry her new partner Samir ([Tahar Rahim](https://www.edgepedia.org/tahar-rahim)).[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/le-passe/) • [4](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/thepast_presskit.pdf) During his brief stay, Ahmad discovers the conflicting nature of Marie's relationship with her teenage daughter Lucie, and his efforts to improve that relationship unveil a secret from their past.[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/le-passe/)\n\nThe household also contains Marie's younger daughter Léa and Samir's young son Fouad, whose mother lies in a coma after a [suicide attempt](https://www.edgepedia.org/suicide-attempt).[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/le-passe/) • [7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-past-2013) Critics described the film as an examination of a stepfamily in which everyone's secrets gradually disentangle, with the Ecumenical Jury reading it as a study of responsibility for past mistakes.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404461/awards/)\n\n## Production\n\n**From Berlin to Paris.** After the international success of *A Separation* (2011), Farhadi and his family moved to Paris so he could write a screenplay set outside Iran.[6](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/03/47142.pdf) Producer Alexandre Mallet-Guy of Memento Films recalled that Farhadi had first mentioned a story he wanted to shoot in Berlin; Mallet-Guy suggested transposing the action to Paris in early 2011, and Farhadi settled there and wrote an entirely different film, drawing on his own experience of living in France.[2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/) The project, still unnamed, was announced at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, where Farhadi and Mallet-Guy received the EU MEDIA Prize for projects in development.[2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/)\n\n**Budget and shooting.** The film was budgeted at 8 million euros, and filming lasted 15 weeks, in a studio at Bry-sur-Marne where the interiors of Marie's house were built, as well as in Sevran and Paris.[2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/) Farhadi deliberately avoided a touristic view of Paris, placing the main home in the suburbs with the city appearing in the background.[2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/) Bérénice Bejo joined Tahar Rahim at the end of July, and rehearsals ran for two months from the beginning of August.[2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/) Marion Cotillard had originally been cast in the role eventually played by Bejo.[8](https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/fc/images/FG_The%20Past.pdf)\n\n**Language.** Farhadi does not speak French and worked through a translator, Arash, throughout preparation and shooting; Bejo described the translator as becoming Farhadi's voice on set.[2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/) The film's dialogue is in French and Persian.[4](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/thepast_presskit.pdf)\n\n## Reception and awards\n\nThe film premiered in [Competition](https://www.edgepedia.org/competition) at the 66th Cannes Film Festival in May 2013 and also screened at Telluride and Toronto.[4](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/thepast_presskit.pdf) It won the Best Actress award for Bejo and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, and was nominated for the Palme d'Or.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404461/awards/) In France it was released on 15 May 2013, alongside its Cannes presentation, and drew around one million admissions.[5](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235767/) • [6](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/03/47142.pdf)\n\n**Awards season.** The film received five César nominations for 2014: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing, and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404461/awards/) The National Board of Review named it Best Foreign Language Film of 2013, and it was Iran's official submission for the 86th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404461/awards/) • [4](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/thepast_presskit.pdf) IMDb records 13 wins and 42 nominations overall.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404461/awards/)\n\n**Critical response.** Reviewers praised the ensemble performances and Farhadi's dramaturgy. Godfrey Cheshire, writing for RogerEbert.com, called it a brilliantly mounted drama about fracturing families and noted Farhadi's layered plotting and shifting perspectives among Ahmad, Marie, and Samir.[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-past-2013) Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described it as part family melodrama and part intricate interpersonal puzzle, observing that because it is set in France rather than Iran it lacks the religious and political overlay of *A Separation*.[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-the-past-20131220-story.html) Guy Lodge's Cannes review judged it unlikely to surpass *A Separation* in most critical estimations, while crediting Bejo with a performance of hostile, last-nerve vulnerability.[10](https://www.incontention.com/hitfix/2013/05/17/cannes-review-the-past-is-an-intimate-but-exacting-breakdown-of-several-separations/) In Iran, the film opened in Tehran cinemas and became the best-selling film within four days, though Iranian critics were divided and it did not repeat the reception of *A Separation*.[11](https://www.radiozamaneh.com/78569/)\n\n## Place in Farhadi's career\n\n*The Past* was Farhadi's sixth feature and followed *A Separation*, which had won Iran's first Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[7](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-past-2013) Farhadi said the story was neither French nor Iranian but a human one, and that he had avoided defining characters by nationality; he also noted that the Iranian character, Ahmad, acts as a catalyst who pushes the others to say what had long remained unsaid.[2](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/) The film was later followed by *The Salesman*, Farhadi's second film produced by Mallet-Guy, after a planned Spanish project was delayed.[6](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/03/47142.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [LE PASSÉ (THE PAST), Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/le-passe/)\n2. [The Past, Sony Pictures Classics (press materials and interviews)](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/)\n3. [The Past (2013) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404461/awards/)\n4. [The Past press kit, Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.sonyclassics.com/thepast/thepast_presskit.pdf)\n5. [The Past (Le Passé), Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/235767/)\n6. [Asghar Farhadi career dossier, Festival de Cannes](https://cdn.festival-cannes.com/media/uploads/2023/03/47142.pdf)\n7. [The Past movie review, RogerEbert.com (Godfrey Cheshire)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-past-2013)\n8. [The Past/Le Passé (2013), Film Criticism, University of Michigan](https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/fc/images/FG_The%20Past.pdf)\n9. [Review: Asghar Farhadi's 'The Past' a potent, intricate family drama, Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-the-past-20131220-story.html)\n10. [Cannes Review: 'The Past', In Contention (Guy Lodge)](https://www.incontention.com/hitfix/2013/05/17/cannes-review-the-past-is-an-intimate-but-exacting-breakdown-of-several-separations/)\n11. [«گذشته» فرهادی بر پرده سینماهای تهران, Radio Zamaneh](https://www.radiozamaneh.com/78569/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2010 to 2014 › Psychological and social drama films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-past-2013-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-past-2013-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Past (گذشته) (2013 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-past-2013-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Past (گذشته) (2013 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-past-2013-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-past-2013-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-past-2013-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Past (گذشته) (2013 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-past-2013-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Past is Asghar Farhadi's 2013 French-Italian drama, his first film outside Iran, starring Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, and Ali Mosaffa; it won Best Actress and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at Cannes 2013." }