Mini biography

Atiq Rahimi (February 26, 1962, Kabul, Afghanistan)

He 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 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 the one at Cannes and a Golden Dhow award for best feature film at the Zanzibar International Film Festival.

In November 2008, Rahimi won France's most prestigious literary prize, the 105-year-old Prix Goncourt, for Syngue 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.

Returning to his native Afghanistan in 2002, Rahimi became involved with the nation’s largest media group, Moby Group, as a senior creative advisor. The group, established by brothers Saad Mohseni, Zaid Mohseni and Jahid Mohseni, owns Tolo TV, Arman FM, Kaboora Production, Barbud Music, Lemar TV, Afghan Scene Magazine, 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 in October 2008.

Rahimi is currently (January 2010) in pre-production of the film version of "Syngué Sabour" or The Patience Stone, which he will direct from his own screenplay, co-authored with Jean-Claude Carrière. The film was selected as the Afghan entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

Director - Selected filmography

1. The Patience Stone - Syngue sabour - La pierre de patience (2012)
   
2. Earth and Ashes - Khakestar-o-khak (2004)