Asghar Farhadi, director of A Separation, About Elly, and The Past, is about to release his next film, The Salesman, and a new trailer was just shared by Amazon studios. In the vein of his earlier films, The Salesman sees the lives of his characters spiraling out of control following an instance that pushes them to their limits and tests their morality. It surrounds a couple of young actors (played by Taraneh Alidoosti and Shahab Hosseini, both of whom were in About Elly) currently playing the leads in a production of Death of a Salesman in Tehran. When the couple is forced to move out of their apartment due to construction next door, their new living situation sees them confronting the ghosts of an old tenant’s past.
The film won Farhardi the Best Screenplay award at Cannes, as well as Best Actor for Hosseini, and it’s been announced as Iran’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Academy Awards. (A Separation won that award in 2012.)
Flavorwire Film Editor Jason Bailey caught the film at the Toronto International Film Festival this year, and wrote:
The Salesman engages with the choices of its characters, and their consequences, with a particular urgency. That is Asghar Fahardi’s gift, and it should not be undervalued.
Watch the new trailer:
The film will hit theaters in the U.S. on January 27.