Golshifteh Farahani


Rahavard Farahani, known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani, is an Iranian and French actress. She is known for her performances in M for Mother, Body of Lies, About Elly, The Patience Stone, Paterson, Girls of the Sun, Extraction and its sequel Extraction 2, and Invasion. For her performance in The Patience Stone, she was nominated for Most Promising Actress at the 39th César Awards.
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Early life

Farahani was born in Tehran, Iran to Behzad Farahani, a theatre director and actor, and stage actress Fahimeh Rahiminia. Her sister is actress Shaghayegh Farahani. The name Golshifteh was invented by her father and means "loving flower", whereas her legal name is Rahavard, and means "gift of the road". She began studying music and piano at the age of five, and later entered a music school in Tehran. At 14, she was cast as the lead in Dariush Mehrjui's The Pear Tree, a role for which she won the Crystal Roc for Best Actress from the International Section of the 16th Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran.

Career

Farahani starred in the drama About Elly, which won Best Picture at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Due to her appearance in the Hollywood movie Body of Lies, seen by Iranian authorities as a collaboration with American propaganda and a violation of Islamic law due to Farahani's appearance without hijab, she has not been allowed to return and work in Iran since 2009, and has since resided in France.
Since moving to Paris, she has worked with directors Roland Joffé, Huner Saleem, Marjane Satrapi, Jim Jarmusch, Neil Burger and Julia Ducournau among others, and has been a member of the international jury at the 13th Marrakech International Film Festival, which was presided by Martin Scorsese. Farahani starred in The Patience Stone, directed by Atiq Rahimi from his novel; it was favorably received by most reviewers. She also starred in a 2012 César Award video in the Most Promising Actors category.
In 2016, Farahani played Anna Karenina on stage in Paris and received laudatory reviews. She also played the lead role of Laura in director Jim Jarmusch's American feature film Paterson, opposite actor Adam Driver. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews, scoring 96% approval on the movie site Rotten Tomatoes.
In 2017, she appeared in the fantasy film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales as the sea witch Shansa.
In 2020, she was in the action film Extraction as Nik Khan. In 2023, Farahani was selected as a member of the main completion jury at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2025, she led Julia Ducournau's latest film Alpha which premiered at the 78th Cannes Film Festival.

Non-film work

Farahani is involved in environmental causes, and is an advocate for the eradication of tuberculosis in Iran.
In Iran, she was a member of Kooch Neshin, a band that won the 2nd Tehran Avenue underground rock competition. Since leaving Iran, she has teamed up with another exiled Iranian musician, Mohsen Namjoo; their album Oy was released in October 2009.
In December 2014, she took 6th place in the annual Independent Critics Beauty List of 2014.
Farahani, who has been exiled from Iran since 2008 for refusing to wear a hijab while acting in international films, has publicly supported the Mahsa Amini protests. On 28 October 2022, British rock band Coldplay invited Farahani to perform with them a cover of Shervin Hajipour's Baraye, which has been described as "the anthem" of the protests, at the band's concert at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires. The concert was broadcast live to over 3,500 theatres worldwide in more than 70 countries as part of a two-night-only live-event cinema special during the Latin America leg of the band's Music of the Spheres World Tour.

Controversy

After Farahani's appearance in the U.S. film Body of Lies, it was reported that Iranian government authorities had prevented her from leaving Iran. This was denied by her colleagues, and she appeared at the movie's American premiere. Her last film performance in Iran was in About Elly directed by Asghar Farhadi.
In January 2012, it was reported that Farahani would not be welcome in her native Iran after posing nude in the French magazine Madame Figaro. According to Britain's Daily Telegraph, Iranian government officials told her, "Iran does not need actors or artists like you. You may offer your artistic services somewhere else." A picture from the shoot on her Facebook page initiated a lively debate about her behavior. She also appeared topless in a short black-and-white film by Jean-Baptiste Mondino called Corps et Âmes. She also posed for fully nude photographs taken by Paolo Roversi for an Égoïste cover and editorial.

Criticism on Iran

Farahani is known for her criticism of the Iranian regime,specifically addressing the restrictive policies of women's rights and artistic freedom. She has often expressed this in interviews and social media posts, talking against the country's mandatory hijab laws and the suppression of female voices in the arts. As the 2025-2026 Iranian protests erupted, and new of the 2016 Iran massacres became global, she spoke about the internet blackout in Iran, stating that international coverage of the violence in Iran will enable “the Iranian people who are risking their lives for their freedom feel supported and not feel their sacrifice will be in silence.”

Personal life

In 2003, Farahani married Amin Mahdavi, the brother of interior designer India Mahdavi, and from whom she later separated. She was also in a relationship with French actor Louis Garrel, who directed and co-starred with her in Two Friends. In a September 2015 interview published in Grazia, Farahani revealed that she had married Christos Dorje Walker, an Australian, five months earlier. As of May 2018, she was in a relationship with a "German hippie" who she met in the Nevada desert at the Burning Man festival.
In November 2017, after living in Paris for eight years, she moved to Ibiza, splitting her time between there and Porto, Portugal. She had previously indicated her intent to leave France, explaining that she was severely impacted by the bureaucracy and banking system.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998The Pear TreeMitra
2001Seven ActsFereshteh
2002ZamanehZamaneh
2003Two AngelsAzar
2004Somewhere ElseRaha
2004BoutiqueEti
2004The Tear of the ColdRonak
2005The Fish Fall in LoveTouka
2005Bab'AzizNoor
2006Gis BoridehMaryam
2006In the Name of the FatherHabibeh
2006Half MoonNiwemang
2006M for MotherSepideh
2007The Music ManHanieh
2007To Each His Own CinemaHerself
2008The WallSetareh
2008There's Always a Woman in BetweenMaryam
2008ShirinWoman in audience
2008Body of LiesAisha
2009About EllySepideh
2011If You Die, I'll Kill YouSiba
2011There Be DragonsLeila
2011Chicken With PlumsIran
2012The Patience StoneThe Woman
2012Just Like a WomanMona
2013My Sweet Pepper LandGovend
2014RosewaterMaryam Bahari
2014EdenYasmin
2014Exodus: Gods and KingsNefertari
2015Two FriendsMona
2015Go HomeNada
2016Sophie's MisfortunesMadame de Réan
2016Finding AltamiraConchita
2016PatersonLaura
2017Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No TalesShansa
2017The Song of ScorpionsNooran
2017ShelterMona
2017The UpsideMaggie
2017Santa & CieAmélie
2018The Night Eats the WorldSarah
2018Girls of the SunBahar
2019Blind SpotElham
2019Arab BluesSelma Derwich
2020ExtractionNik Khan
2022Brother and SisterFaunia Vuillard
2022My Father's DragonDela ElevatorVoice role
2022A Romantic ComedySalomé
2023Extraction 2Nik Khan
2024Hood WitchNour
2024Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust242BVoice role
2024William TellSuna
2024Reading Lolita in TehranAzar Nafisi
2025AlphaAlpha's mother