About Elly

Original title: Darbareye Elly

Asghar Farhadi/ Persian/ Iran/ 2009/ 119 minutes

About Elly shows a modern face of Iran. Telling the story of three young couples from Teheran who take a three-day break at a Caspian beach resort, it shows a modern face of the country which has hitherto been seen only rarely.

The members of the team are former classmates at the Law faculty in the university. The first couple is Sepideh and her husband Amir who have a little daughter. The second family is Shohreh and her husband Peiman who have two children including their little son Arash. Nazi and her husband Manoochehr are the third family. The trip is planned by Sepideh who has brought along her daughter's kindergarten teacher Elly in order to introduce her to Ahmad, a friend who has come back from Germany probably for Marriage.

They all go to the villa that Sepideh has booked from Tehran, but the rural woman in charge tells them that the owners of the place are coming back next day. So they can't stay there. The old woman suggests them to stay in a deserted villa that needs a lot of fixation. There is no signal for the Cell-phone and they have to go to the old woman's house in order to make calls. Sepideh tells lie to the old woman about the relationship between Elly and Ahmad. She says they're married and are there for their honey moon.

Elly is a little shy among them and Ahmad's look conveys a lot of passion toward her. Elly at the other side has also the tendency to Ahmad. She calls her mother and tell another lie to her that she's with her co-workers at the Sea-side. She says she will go back to Tehran tomorrow. But she disappeared. No one knows if she is still alive of not. The judgments of these people about Elly form the whole story of the film.

Awards

• Crystal Simorgh for Best Director in 27th Fajr International Film Festival
• Silver Bear for Best Director in 59th Berlin film festival
• Best Picture at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
• Best Narrative Feature in Tribeca Film Festival, Farhadi
• Netpac Award in Brisbane International Film Festival Farhadi

Director: Asghar Farhadi

Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi

Story: Asghar Farhadi, Azad Jafarian

Cast: Golshifteh Farahani, Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti, Merila Zare'I, Mani Haghighi, Peyman Moaadi, Ra'na Azadivar, Ahmad Mehranfar, Saber Abbar

Cinematography: Hossein Djafarian

Editing: Haydeh Safi-Yari

Makeup: Mehrdad Mirkiani