Relations between the countries of Iran and the United States may be ill at ease, but Iranian cinematic import A Separation — just off its Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film win and a Best Screenplay feting by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the first such honor from the organization for a foreign film — is deservedly capturing the hearts and minds of plenty of American cineastes. The movie is a multi-layered familial drama about a married couple (Peyman Moadi and Leila Hatami) attempting to resolve elder care issues, their teenage daughter's needs and the potentiality of a divorce when a misunderstanding turned legal problem with their new maid renders these problems secondary. Sophisticated and yet immediately knowable, the rapturously engaging A Separation belies cliched notions of how a foreign film must connect with American audiences in staid, formal tones. I recently had a chance to sit down one-on-one with writer-director Asghar Farhadi, to discuss (with the assistance of a translator) his award-winning movie, as well as life in general and his personal filmmaking future in Iran. The conversation is excerpted over at ShockYa, so click here for the read.