Asghar Farhadi made a grand return to Cannes Film Festival on Thursday night with “Parallel Tales,” his French-language drama starring Isabelle Huppert.
The acclaimed Iranian auteur blew kisses to the crowd as the audience applauded for the 2 hour and 20 minute drama following several nosy neighbors whose lives intertwine.
As the clapping continued, Farhadi hugged his actors Catherine Deneuve and Virginie Efira. Huppert, who leads the film, stood beside him but remained politely smiling during the ovation.
The Iranian auteur and two-time Oscar winner has not attended the festival since his last film, 2021’s “A Hero,” which won the grand prix. The highly anticipated “Parallel Tales” follows Sylvie (Huppert), who spies on her neighbors across the street to gain inspiration for her new novel. “When she hires young Adam (Adam Bessa) to help her with her daily routine, she has no idea that he will turn her life and her work upside down, until the fiction she had imagined surpasses the reality of them all,” its synopsis continues.
In addition to Huppert and Bessa, “Parallel Tales” stars French heavyweights Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Deneuve. The film is competing for the festival’s prestigious Palme d’Or, a prize that Farhadi has been up for before with 2013’s “The Past,” his French-language debut; 2016’s “The Salesman,” which won best screenplay; 2018’s “Everybody Knows”; and 2021’s “A Hero.”
Farhadi has been living outside of Iran since 2023, and has been vocal that he will not make another film in his native country until the forced use of hijabs in film and television is lifted. In a statement in April, the director called on his fellow filmmakers to speak out against the escalation of the Iran War, writing: “Attacking a country’s infrastructure is a war crime. Regardless of any beliefs or attitudes, let’s unite to stop this inhumane, illegal and destructive process.”
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