Atiq Rahimi

Atiq Rahimi is a French-Afghan writer and director, born in Kabul in 1962. In his native country, he studied literature at the University of Kabul. In 1984, he left for Pakistan to escape the Soviet invasion. He then decided to migrate to France, where he was granted political asylum.

He studied in the Sorbonne and wrote his doctoral thesis on dramaturgy in film. This marked the start of his career as a writer and director in France. His first novel, “Terre et cendres” (“Earth And Ashes”), was published by P.O.L. in 2000. He adapted it for cinema in 2004, which earned him a nomination at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004, wining the “Prix du Regard vers l’Avenir”. In 2008, he won the Prix Goncourt for his novel “Syngué Sabour, pierre de patience” (“The Patience Stone”). He again directed the film adaptation, co-written with Jean-Claude Carrière. For this film, Golshifteh Farahani won the 2014 César for Best Young Actress. After a long stay in Rwanda, Atiq Rahimi directed his third feature film, “Notre Dame du Nil” (“Our Lady of the Nile”), an adaptation of the novel by Scholastique Mukasonga, which won the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale 2020.

He has also written several opera librettos. He invented callimorphie, a graphic art form combining drawing and calligraphy. His works have been exhibited at La Galerie Cinéma and in New York. As a novelist, Atiq Rahimi has published a total of ten books translated into 33 languages. The latest, “Mehstî, chair des mots” (“Mehstî, flesh of words”), published by Calmann Levy, is devoted to the Persian poet of the twelfth century, feminist before time, Mehsti Gandjawi.