Ali Asgari

Biography

Ali Asgari is a prominent figure in Iranian cinema with more than 200 awards to his name. Two of his short films, MoreThan Two Hours (2013) and The Silence (2016), were nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Festival de Cannes. Hisshort film The Baby was featured in the short film competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2014. Ali’s films focus on the precarious lives of individuals living on the margins of society in his native country, Iran. His debut feature film, Disappearance, was developed at the Cinéfondation Residency of the Festival de Cannes and had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, followed by its North American premiere at TIFF in 2017. After dedicating his time to creating several other short films, he directed Until Tomorrow , his second feature film, which premiered at Berlinale 2022. Ali’s third feature film, Terrestrial Verses, a cross-genre film, premiered at the 2023 Cannes FilmFestival and was theatrically released in more than 10 territories across the world. Terrestrial Verses has drawn over100,000 spectators in France and 26,000 in Italy. His fourth feature film, Higher than Acidic Clouds, is a boundary-pushing hybrid film that has been selected for IDFA2024. Most recently, Ali Asgari was chosen as a jury member for the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival. Ali is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Filmography

2026: A Bit of Light
2025: Divine Comedy
2024 : Higher than Acidic Clouds (70 mins )
2023 : Terrestrial Verses (77 mins) / Cannes Film Festival
2022 : Until Tomorrow (86 mins)
2017 : Disappearance (90 minutes)