Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is back in Competition in Cannes for the fifth time with French-language drama Parallel Tales starring Isabelle Huppert, Adam Bessa, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Catherine Deneuve.
The Paris-set, French-language drama hits Cannes as Farhadi’s native Iran lies in turmoil due to the war with the U.S. as well as long-running domestic discontent against the draconian Islamic Regime government.
Farhadi told the Deadline Studio that he was back living in Iran, after a spell in the U.S. and France in the wake of the Woman Life Freedom protests in 2022, but reiterated his vow not to make films at home while censorship laws remain in place.
“I live in Iran but as I’ve said before I won’t make films in Iran as long as I need a permit to do it. I won’t undergo this system of filming in my country,” said Farhadi, whose last film shot at home was A Hero, which won the Grand Prix in Cannes in 2021.
“I come abroad to make films but as soon as the work is done I go back to my home, which is Iran,” he added.
In response to a question on his feelings about the current situation in Iran, he replied: “Like everyone, I guess I love my country, I love my land, and nothing matters more than my land in these days.”
Taking its cue from an episode in Krzyszof Kieslowski’s television series Dekalog, Parallel Tales stars Huppert stars as a reclusive writer who spies incessantly on a neighboring apartment and weaves imaginary stories around its occupants.
Fact and fiction collide, when a young homeless man (Bessa) hired as home-help unleashes these stories into the real-world.
“I was so honored and happy to work with Asghar because he really is a great director, Huppert told the Deadline Studio.
“He is a master of precision, and that started from the beginning when we started thinking about the costumes… This is literally how the characters started to emerge at the very early stage even before shooting,” she said.
“I was really intrigued by the script. This is what made me really willing to do it. I love not always really understanding what I’m doing because I know cinema is going to give me the answers.”
To see the full conversation, click on the video above.
The Deadline Studio at Cannes is sponsored by SCAD.
