Farahani starred in The Patience Stone, directed by Atiq Rahimi from his novel; it was favorably received by most reviewers. She also starred in a 2012 César Award video in the Most Promising Actors category. In 2016, Farahani played Anna Karenina on stage in Paris and received laudatory reviews. She also played the lead role of Laura in director Jim Jarmusch's American feature filmPaterson, opposite actor Adam Driver. The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews, scoring 96% approval on the movie site Rotten Tomatoes. In 2017, she appeared in the fantasy film as the sea witch Shansa. In 2020, she was in the action filmExtraction as Nik Khan. She is slated to appear in director Dariush Mehrjui's film Rumi's Kimia, which will be based on Saideh Ghods's novel "Kimia Khatoon".
Non-film work
Farahani is involved in environmental causes, and is an advocate for the eradication of tuberculosis in Iran. In Iran, she was a member of Kooch Neshin, a band that won the 2nd Tehran Avenue underground rock competition. Since leaving Iran, she has teamed up with another exiled Iranian musician, Mohsen Namjoo; their album Oy was released in October 2009. In December 2014, she took 6th place in the annual Independent Critics Beauty List of 2014. Since moving to Paris, she has worked with directors Roland Joffe, Hiner Saleem and Marjane Satrapi, among others, and was a member of the international jury at the 63rd Locarno Film Festival.
Controversy
After Farahani's appearance in the U.S. film Body of Lies, it was reported that government authorities had prevented her from leaving Iran. However, this was denied by her colleagues, and she appeared at the movie's American premiere. Her last film performance in Iran was in About Elly directed by Asghar Farhadi. In January 2012, it was reported that Farahani would not be welcome in her homeland after posing nude in the FrenchMadame Figaro. According to Britain's Daily Telegraph, Iranian government officials told her, "Iran does not need actors or artists like you. You may offer your artistic services somewhere else." A picture from the shoot on her Facebook page initiated a lively debate about her behavior. She also appeared topless in a short black-and-white film by Jean-Baptiste Mondino called Corps et Âmes.
