Asghar Farhadi Discusses New Film Made in France After Return to Iran

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi returned to Cannes for the fifth time with the French-language drama Parallel Tales. The film was made after he left Iran in 2022. Farhadi said he decided not to return to Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini and the protests that followed. He returned to the country last month after completing the film.

Farhadi said the project began five years ago when an American company approached him about adapting the full series. He selected the episode focused on a man who becomes obsessed with a woman through an image. The story was relocated to Paris after financing attempts in the United States did not succeed.

The cast includes Isabelle Huppert, Adam Bessa, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney, and Catherine Deneuve. Farhadi said the actors accepted their roles quickly after he began casting in France.

The film opened in France through Memento Films and recorded more than 125,000 admissions in its first week. It earned roughly 1.2 million dollars during that period. Farhadi said he has vowed not to work in Iran until he can make films in which women appear unveiled. He described his connection to the country as similar to sitting beside a sick mother.

“It's like having a sick mother. If your mother's sick, there's not much you can do. All you can do is sit next to her and hold her hand. You cannot leave her, and just let her be.”