After joining the Iranian Young Cinema Society, he furthered his studies at the University of Tehran where he graduated in 1998. During these formative years, Asghar Farhadi made 6 shorts and two TV series. In 2001, he debut ed in professional cinema by co-writing with Ebrahim Hatamikia the script for Ertefae Past (2002) (Low Heights), a chronicle of Southwest Iran that met with both critical and public success. The following year, Farhadi made his first feature film Raghs dar ghobar (2003) (Dancing in the Dust), about a man forced to divorce his wife and to go hunting snakes in the desert in order to repay his debts to his in-laws. The film earned recognition at several festivals (Fajr, Moscow) and one year later, Beautiful City (2004), a grave work about a young man condemned to death at the age of sixteen, followed the same path (rewards at Fajr, Warsaw).
Nader ('Peyman Moaadi' )and Simin ( ) argue about living abroad. Simin prefers to live abroad to provide better opportunities for their only daughter, Termeh. However, Nader refuses to go because he thinks he must stay in Iran and take care of his father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi), who suffers from Alzheimers. However, Simin is determined to get a divorce and leave the country with her daughter.