At the Cannes Film Festival, acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi said he is still carrying the emotional weight of recent events in Iran, calling the deaths tied to a January crackdown on protesters and the subsequent war involving Iran "deeply painful." Farhadi made the remarks on the heels of the premiere of his new film, "Parallel Tales," which screened at the festival the night before.
"I was actually in Tehran last week, and I am still carrying the impact of these events with me," Farhadi told journalists at Cannes. He added, "Both are deeply painful, and neither will ever be forgotten." The director also said it was painful to read news about innocent people being killed every day.
The comments referenced two major developments affecting Iran earlier this year. In January, anti-government demonstrations across the country were met with force in what the director and others have described as the largest crackdown in the Islamic Republic's history. At the end of February, U.S. and Israeli airstrikes led to a conflict that has drawn in parties across the broader Middle East.
Farhadi, who has been based largely outside Iran since 2023, attended Cannes as his film "Parallel Tales" entered competition for the festival's top prize. The drama, set in Paris, features performances by French-language actors Isabelle Huppert and Vincent Cassel. It is one of 22 films vying for the festival's highest honor.
Farhadi is a two-time Academy Award winner. His 2012 film "A Separation" was the first Iranian film to receive the Oscar for best foreign language film. He won the same award again five years later for "The Salesman," a ceremony he notably boycotted in protest of a U.S. travel ban affecting several Muslim-majority countries during the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump.
At Cannes, the juxtaposition of Farhadi's remarks about grief and his film's competitive debut highlighted the intersection of artistic recognition and the continuing human cost of political and military developments in Iran. Farhadi's presence at the festival and his comments underscored how recent events continue to resonate with artists and audiences alike.