The Iranian drama A Separation will make its NY premiere tomorrow evening as part of the 49th New York Film Festival (buy tickets here) (read my rave review here.) This daring and intensely captivating drama has already won accolades in a number of festivals, most notably Silver Bear honors for its leads and the prestigious Golden Bear prize from the Berlin International Film Festival. This thrilling feature’s internationally acclaimed writer/director Asghar Farhadi (pictured above accepting the honors with his daughter Sarina who co-stars in the film) has called A Separation, “a detective story” in which, “the detectives are the audience,” expounding, “The audience is the one in charge of solving the puzzles; there will be as many answers as a audiences.” After a press screening hosted by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Farhadi told critics, “The answers [themselves] are not important. What is important is that you are thinking.”

While this engaging Oscar hopeful won’t have a theatrical release until we’ve reached the thick of award season, you can get a feel for this awe-inspiring effort now through this gripping international trailer. But warning – there are less spoilers in our review than there are in this trailer! (My advice to avoid spoilers: stop it at the one minute mark.)

Synopsis: (from NYFF)

A critical and audience favorite at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear as well as acting prizes for all four lead performers, A Separation is an Iranian Rashomon of searing family drama that turns into an unexpectedly gripping legal thriller. The film, directed by Asghar Farhadi, begins with married couple Simin (Leila Hatami) and Nader (Peyman Moadi) obtaining coveted visas to leave Iran for the United States, where Simin hopes to offer a better future to their 11-year-old daughter. But Nader doesn’t feel comfortable abandoning his elderly, Alzheimer’s-stricken father, and so the couple embark on a trial separation. To help care for the old man, Nader hires Razieh (Sareh Bayat), a pregnant, deeply religious woman who takes the job unbeknownst to her husband (Shahab Hosseini), an out-of-work cobbler. Almost immediately there are complications, culminating in a sudden burst of violence that constantly challenges our own perceptions of who (if anyone) is to blame and what really happened. A Sony Pictures Classics release.

A Separation will open in the U.S. in limited release on December 30, 2011.

What are your thoughts on this trailer?

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