Asghar Farhadi Shares His Thoughts on the Impact of the Iran War While Presenting ‘Parallel Tales’ at Cannes
Two-time Oscar-winning and Cannes-acclaimed filmmaker Asghar Farhadi shared his deep concerns this morning regarding the ongoing turmoil in his home country of Iran, which is embroiled in conflict with the United States.
In a recent press conference, Farhadi was asked by a journalist about the creative freedoms he experienced while working on his latest project in France—freedoms he would not have had if the film had been made in Iran, where he would face severe repercussions.
Rather than directly addressing the question, Farhadi emphasized the weight of the recent tragedies in Iran. “Over the last few months when I was busy with the post-production, two tragic events occurred in Iran. I was in Tehran last week, and the impact of these events are still with me. One of these events was the death of a number of innocent people—children and civilians who died in the war. Prior to this war, we also witnessed the deaths of demonstrators protesting in the streets. These two events are extremely painful and will not be forgotten,” he stated.
He added, “To feel empathy for people who were killed, demonstrators who were shot, doesn’t mean you can’t feel empathy for those who died because of the bombing. Any murder is a crime. Under no circumstances can I accept the fact that another human being should lose his or her life, be it war, executions, or the massacres of demonstrators,” Farhadi exclaimed.
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Farhadi recounted that he was initially unimpressed when approached to reboot the acclaimed series Dekalog. It was Krzysztof Piesiewicz, the original writer, who ultimately persuaded him to adapt one of its episodes for the big screen. Just before the world premiere of his latest film, Farhadi received the news of Piesiewicz’s passing. “That’s what’s haunted my mind since last night,” he reflected.
Previously, Farhadi’s film A Hero received the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2021. His earlier works, A Separation in 2011 and The Salesman in 2016, both won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, now known as International Feature Film.
