This year's winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, "A Separation" (2011) details the story of two families living in modern day Iran. Simin and Nader (Leila Hatami and Peyman Moaadi) are seeking a divorce because Simin wants to leave the country, but Nader cannot because his father is afflicted with Alzheimer's. When the divorce isn't granted, the two separate, and Nader hires Razieh (Sareh Bayat), a deeply religious pregnant woman, to take care of his father. One day, when Razieh leaves Nader's father alone, he gets seriously hurt in her absence. In a rage, Nader physically ejects Razieh from his home, which she claims causes her to lose her baby. Nader is then charged with murder under the labyrinthine Iranian justice system and must fight the case with Simin's help. Varun Bhuchar
Directed and written by: Asghar FarhadiWith: Hatami, Moaadi, Bayat123 minutesRated PG-13
"A Separation" offers no satisfying resolution and few happy moments. Instead, fraught with emotion and tension, the film welcomes an audience into this dysfunctional family's home to think about the issues of justice, religion, pride and much more. Gavin Huang
Perhaps the greatest achievement of "A Separation" is the character development of the Iranian protagonists, to whom American audiences can relate surprisingly easily. Farhadi's script is nothing short of genius for it remarkable complexity and gravitas in handling the issues affecting his country. Moaadi is also fantastic as a man fighting for his freedom in a justice system that Kafka himself couldn't have come up with. Varun Bhuchar
You know a foreign film is really good when you forget that the characters are speaking another language. "A Separation" was enthralling, combining a painfully realistic script with complex and passionate actors to create a multi-layered story that left me with more questions than answers by the end. The complex narrative implores you to reconsider justice. The Academy Awards chose right with this one. Sophia Archibald
