Atiq Rahimi ( fa, عتیق رحیمی) (born 26 February 1962 in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

) is a French-

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

writer and filmmaker.

Life

Atiq Rahimi was born in 1962 in

to a senior public servant and attended high school in

Lycée Esteqlal In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

. Following the Soviet invasion, Rahimi fled

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, taking refuge in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

for a year and then relocating to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1985 after receiving political asylum. On completion of his studies at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, Rahimi joined a

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

-based production company where he produced seven documentaries for French television, as well as several commercials. Taking time off in the late 1990s, Rahimi embarked on his first writing project. His 2000 Dari/Persian book, ''

Earth and Ashes ''Earth and Ashes'' ( fa, خاکستر و خاک) is a 2004 Afghan film directed by Atiq Rahimi, based on his book of the same name which was published in 2000. It was Afghanistan's submission to the 77th Academy Awards for the Academy Award fo ...

'', was an instant bestseller in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. A movie based on this book, directed by Rahimi, was awarded the ''Prix du Regard vers l'Avenir'' at the

2004 Cannes Film Festival The 57th Cannes Film Festival started on 12 and ran until 23 May 2004 in film, 2004. The Palme d'Or went to the United States, American film ''Fahrenheit 9/11'' by Michael Moore. The festival opened with ''Bad Education (2004 film), La mala educa ...

. The film was featured in 50 festivals, winning a total of 25 awards including the one at Cannes and a Golden Dhow award for best feature film at the

Zanzibar International Film Festival The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), also known as Festival of the Dhow Countries, is an annual film festival held in Zanzibar, Tanzania and one of the largest cultural events in East Africa. ZIFF is a non-governmental organization esta ...

. After the fall of the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

, Rahimi returned to his native Afghanistan in 2002, after 17 years of exile, and used a 150-year-old box camera to take pictures of Kabul. Six of these photographs were later purchased by the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In November 2008, Rahimi won France's most prestigious literary prize, the 105-year-old

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

, for ''Syngué Sabour''. Described as "sober and alive" by French culture minister

Christine Albanel Christine Albanel (born 25 June 1955) is a French politician and civil servant. From May 2007 to June 2009, she was France's Minister for Culture and Communication in François Fillon's government. Early career Albanel is agrégé in classica ...

, it was translated into English as ''The Patience Stone''. Rahimi's fourth book and his first in French, the novel tells the story of a woman whose husband has been wounded in battle in a country resembling Afghanistan and now lies as paralysed as a stone. Upon his return to

in 2002, Rahimi became involved with the nation's largest media group, Moby Group, as a senior creative advisor. The group, established by brothers

Saad Mohseni Saad Mohseni (Persian: سعد محسنی) is an Afghan Australian businessman and entrepreneur. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of MOBY Group, launched in Afghanistan in 2002 and now active across South and Central Asia and the ...

, Zaid Mohseni and Jahid Mohseni, owns Tolo TV, Arman FM, Kaboora Production, Barbud Music, Lemar TV, ''Afghan Scene Magazine'', and a host of other media related entities. Rahimi, who divides his time between

and

, continues to work closely with the Moby Group in developing programs and genres for its media outlets, as well as helping develop and train a new generation of Afghan filmmakers and directors. Rahimi created and developed Tolo TV's "Raz ha een Khana" (Secrets of this House), Afghanistan's first soap opera. The hugely popular "Secrets of this House" took the Special Award at the Seoul Drama Awards in October 2008. Rahimi directed a 2012 film adaptation of "Syngué Sabour" or ''

The Patience Stone ''The Patience Stone'' (french: Syngué sabour. Pierre de patience) is a 2008 novel by the French-Afghan writer Atiq Rahimi. It is also known as ''Stone of Patience''. It received the Prix Goncourt. See also * 2008 in literature * Contemporary ...

'' from a screenplay he co-authored with

Jean-Claude Carrière Jean-Claude Carrière (; 17 September 1931 – 8 February 2021) was a French novelist, screenwriter and actor. He received an Academy Award for best short film for co-writing '' Heureux Anniversaire'' (1963), and was later conferred an Honorary ...

. The film, starring Iranian actress

Golshifteh Farahani Rahavard Farahani ( fa, رهاورد فراهانی; born 10 July 1983), known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani (), is an Iranian-French actress. She is known for her performances in ''M for Mother'' (2006), '' Body of Lies'' (2008), ''Abo ...

, was selected as the Afghan entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2012 in film, films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, ...

, but was not nominated. Rahimi's third feature film as director, '' Our Lady of the Nile'', premiered as the opening film of the Contemporary World Cinema program at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.

Works

*Novels and Novellas # ''Khâkestar-o-khâk'' (English translation published as Earth and Ashes) # ''Les Mille Maisons du rêve et de la terreur'', 2002. (English translation published as A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear # ''Le Retour imaginaire'', 2005. # ''Syngué Sabour. Pierre de patience'', 2008. # ''Maudit soit Dostoïevski'', 2011. (English translation published as A Curse on Dostoevsky) # ''Les porteurs d'eau'', P.O.L. 2019. *Films Directed # ''Earth and Ashes'' / ''

'' # ''Stone of Patience'' / ''

'', 2012. # '' Our Lady of the Nile'', 2019.

References

External links

Article about Atiq Rahimi

Atiq Rahimi by the Nouvel Observateur

Article at Bloomberg.com

* ttp://mantlethought.org/content/interview-atiq-rahimi Literary Currents Series: An Interview with Atiq Rahimi by JK Fowler on March 7, 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahimi, Atiq 1962 births Living people Afghan film directors Exophonic writers French people of Afghan descent Prix Goncourt winners University of Paris alumni Afghan documentary filmmakers Afghan expatriates in Pakistan