LOS ANGELES, (AFP) — Iranian movie “A Separation” won the best foreign language film award at the Golden Globes, beating rivals from China, Spain and Belgium, as well as Angelina Jolie’s debut as a director.

The movie by writer/director Asghar Farhadi tells the story of a married couple facing the dilemma of whether to leave Iran for the sake of their family.

It was up against “The Flowers of War” from China, Belgian movie “The Kid with Bike” (“Le Gamin au Velo”), and “The Skin I Live In” (“La piel que habito”) by Spanish veteran Pedro Almodovar.

Hollywood megastar Jolie’s first film as director “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” set in Bosnia-Herzegovina, was also on the foreign language shortlist as it was and shot bilingually in English and Serbo-Croat.