Ali Asgari is a writer, director, producer and prominent figure in Iranian cinema which films focus on the precarious lives of individuals living on the margins of society in his native country. Two of his short films, More Than Two Hours (2013) and The Silence (2016), were nominated for the Short Film Palme d’Or at the Festival de Cannes. His short film The Baby was also featured in the short film competition at the Venice Film Festival in 2014. In 2017, his debut feature film, Disappearance premiered in Orizzonti at the Venice International Film Festival and was selected at the Toronto Film Festival in Discovery section. After staging several other short films, he directed his second feature film, Until Tomorrow, which premiered at the 2022 Berlinale in Panorama section. Ali’s third feature film, Terrestrial Verses, a cross-genre film, premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard and was theatrically released in more than 10 territories across the world. 

Terrestrial Verses has drawn over 100,000 spectators in France and 26,000 in Italy. His fourth feature film, Higher than Acidic Clouds, is a boundary-pushing hybrid film that has been selected for IDFA 2024. Most recently, Ali Asgari was chosen as a jury member for the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival. Ali is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His latest feature film, Divine Comedy, will premiere at Venice Film Festival 2025 in Orizzonti section.