Atiq Rahimi

French-Afghan writer

Atiq Rahimi

Atiq Rahimi in 2009

Born|  (1962-02-26) 26 February 1962 (age 62)

Kabul

Occupation(s)| Senior Creative Advisor, Writer, Photographer and Film Director, Senior Creative Advisor, Moby Media Group

Atiq Rahimi (Persian: عتیق رحیمی) (born 26 February 1962 in Kabul) is a French-Afghan writer and filmmaker.

## Life

[edit]

Atiq Rahimi was born in 1962 in Kabul to a senior public servant and attended high school in Lycée Esteqlal. Following the Soviet invasion, Rahimi fled Afghanistan, taking refuge in Pakistan for a year and then relocating to France in 1985[1] after receiving political asylum.

On completion of his studies at the Sorbonne, Rahimi joined a Paris-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, was an instant bestseller in Europe and South America. 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 film was featured in 50 festivals, winning a total of 25 awards including one at Cannes and a Golden Dhow award for best feature film at the Zanzibar International Film Festival.

After the fall of the Taliban, 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 in London.[1]

In November 2008, Rahimi won France's most prestigious literary prize, the 105-year-old Prix Goncourt,[2] for Syngué Sabour. Described as "sober and alive" by French culture minister Christine Albanel, 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 Afghanistan in 2002, Rahimi became involved with the nation's largest media group, Moby Group,[3] as a senior creative advisor. The group, established by brothers Saad Mohseni, Zaid Mohseni and Jahid Mohseni, owns Tolo TV,[4] Arman FM,[5] Kaboora Production,[6] Barbud Music,[7] Lemar TV,[8] Afghan Scene Magazine,[9] and a host of other media related entities. Rahimi, who divides his time between Kabul and Paris, 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[10] in October 2008.

Rahimi directed a 2012 film adaptation of "Syngué Sabour" or The Patience Stone from a screenplay he co-authored with Jean-Claude Carrière. The film, starring Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, was selected as the Afghan entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.[11]

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.[12]

Atiq Rahimi has been selected as a 2023 Cannes Film Festival jury member. This appointment marks another significant achievement in his distinguished career. Rahimi's films have been recognized internationally, including at the Cannes Film Festival, reflecting his unique artistic vision and his contributions to both Afghan and global cinema. His role as a jury member at such a prestigious event underscores his status as a prominent figure in the film industry. [13]

### Bibliography

[edit]

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

### Filmography

[edit]

* Earth and Ashes, 2004
* The Patience Stone, 2012
* Our Lady of the Nile, 2019[14]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Grey, Tobias (29 November 2013). "Interview: Atiq Rahimi on language and expression in Afghanistan". Financial Times.
2. ^ Academie Goncourt Archived 2008-11-19 at the Wayback Machine and Dave Itzkoff, "Afghan Author Wins French Literary Prize," The New York Times, November 10, 2008.
3. ^ "Moby Media Group". mobygroup.com.
4. ^ "TOLO TV".
5. ^ "ARMAN FM 98.1". arman.fm. Archived from the original on 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
6. ^ "kaboora.com - Home". kaboora.com.
7. ^ Barbud Music Team. "Barbud Music - Coming soon..." barbudmusic.com.
8. ^ "lemar.tv - Home". lemar.tv.
9. ^ "Afghan Scene ISSUE 126 I January 2015". afghanscene.com. Archived from the original on 2004-08-14.
10. ^ "Seoul International Drama Awards". seouldrama.org.
11. ^ "Oscars: The Patience Stone chosen to be the Afghan entry!". Le Pacte. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
12. ^ "TIFF 2019 CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA SLATE OFFERS A GLOBALSNAPSHOT OF THE WORLD THROUGH ESSENTIAL STORYTELLING" (PDF) (Press release). TIFF. 13 August 2019. p. 5.
13. ^ "Brie Larson, Paul Dano & Julia Ducournau Join Cannes Film Festival 2023 Jury". deadline.com. 4 May 2023.
14. ^ "Our Lady of the Nile [programme note]". TIFF. 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atiq Rahimi.

* (in French and English) Atiq Rahimi Official website
* (in English) Article about Atiq Rahimi
* (in French) Atiq Rahimi by the Nouvel Observateur
* (in English) Article at Bloomberg.com
* (in English) Article by Qantara.de
* Atiq Rahimi's "The Patience Stone": Portrait of a Brave Woman
* Literary Currents Series: An Interview with Atiq Rahimi by JK Fowler on March 7, 2011

* v
* t
* e

Laureates of the Prix Goncourt

1903–1925|

* 1903 John Antoine Nau
* 1904 Léon Frapié
* 1905 Claude Farrère
* 1906 Jérôme Tharaud and Jean Tharaud
* 1907 Émile Moselly
* 1908 Francis de Miomandre
* 1909 Marius-Ary Leblond
* 1910 Louis Pergaud
* 1911 Alphonse de Châteaubriant
* 1912 André Savignon
* 1913 Marc Elder
* 1914 Adrien Bertrand
* 1915 René Benjamin
* 1916 Henri Barbusse
* 1917 Henry Malherbe
* 1918 Georges Duhamel
* 1919 Marcel Proust
* 1920 Ernest Pérochon
* 1921 René Maran
* 1922 Henri Béraud
* 1923 Lucien Fabre
* 1924 Thierry Sandre
* 1925 Maurice Genevoix

1926–1950|

* 1926 Henri Deberly
* 1927 Maurice Bedel
* 1928 Maurice Constantin-Weyer
* 1929 Marcel Arland
* 1930 Henri Fauconnier
* 1931 Jean Fayard
* 1932 Guy Mazeline
* 1933 André Malraux
* 1934 Roger Vercel
* 1935 Joseph Peyré
* 1936 Maxence Van der Meersch
* 1937 Charles Plisnier
* 1938 Henri Troyat
* 1939 Philippe Hériat
* 1940 Francis Ambrière
* 1941 Henri Pourrat
* 1942 Marc Bernard
* 1943 Marius Grout
* 1944 Elsa Triolet
* 1945 Jean-Louis Bory
* 1946 Jean-Jacques Gautier
* 1947 Jean-Louis Curtis
* 1948 Maurice Druon
* 1949 Robert Merle
* 1950 Paul Colin

1951–1975|

* 1951 Julien Gracq
* 1952 Béatrix Beck
* 1953 Pierre Gascar
* 1954 Simone de Beauvoir
* 1955 Roger Ikor
* 1956 Romain Gary
* 1957 Roger Vailland
* 1958 Francis Walder
* 1959 André Schwarz-Bart
* 1960 Vintilă Horia
* 1961 Jean Cau
* 1962 Anna Langfus
* 1963 Armand Lanoux
* 1964 Georges Conchon
* 1965 Jacques Borel
* 1966 Edmonde Charles-Roux
* 1967 André Pieyre de Mandiargues
* 1968 Bernard Clavel
* 1969 Félicien Marceau
* 1970 Michel Tournier
* 1971 Jacques Laurent
* 1972 Jean Carrière
* 1973 Jacques Chessex
* 1974 Pascal Lainé
* 1975 Émile Ajar (Romain Gary)

1976–2000|

* 1976 Patrick Grainville
* 1977 Didier Decoin
* 1978 Patrick Modiano
* 1979 Antonine Maillet
* 1980 Yves Navarre
* 1981 Lucien Bodard
* 1982 Dominique Fernandez
* 1983 Frédérick Tristan
* 1984 Marguerite Duras
* 1985 Yann Queffélec
* 1986 Michel Host
* 1987 Tahar Ben Jelloun
* 1988 Érik Orsenna
* 1989 Jean Vautrin
* 1990 Jean Rouaud
* 1991 Pierre Combescot
* 1992 Patrick Chamoiseau
* 1993 Amin Maalouf
* 1994 Didier Van Cauwelaert
* 1995 Andreï Makine
* 1996 Pascale Roze
* 1997 Patrick Rambaud
* 1998 Paule Constant
* 1999 Jean Echenoz
* 2000 Jean-Jacques Schuhl

2001–present|

* 2001 Jean-Christophe Rufin
* 2002 Pascal Quignard
* 2003 Jacques-Pierre Amette
* 2004 Laurent Gaudé
* 2005 François Weyergans
* 2006 Jonathan Littell
* 2007 Gilles Leroy
* 2008 Atiq Rahimi
* 2009 Marie NDiaye
* 2010 Michel Houellebecq
* 2011 Alexis Jenni
* 2012 Jérôme Ferrari
* 2013 Pierre Lemaitre
* 2014 Lydie Salvayre
* 2015 Mathias Énard
* 2016 Leïla Slimani
* 2017 Éric Vuillard
* 2018 Nicolas Mathieu
* 2019 Jean-Paul Dubois
* 2020 Hervé Le Tellier
* 2021 Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
* 2022 Brigitte Giraud
* 2023 Jean-Baptiste Andrea

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Japan
* Italy
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Portugal
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Greece
* Korea
* Sweden
* Poland
* Israel
* Catalonia
* Belgium

Academics|

* CiNii

People|

* Deutsche Biographie
* DDB

Other|

* IdRef

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template