‘Extremely cruel and tragic’: Iranian director Asghar Farhadi speaks out against state violence and the war
The Guardian • • general
Key Points:
- Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi condemned the deaths of civilians and protesters in Iran as "extremely cruel and tragic" during a Cannes film festival press conference.
- Farhadi emphasized the importance of condemning both state violence against demonstrators and civilian casualties caused by war without contradiction.
- The director, who has lived outside Iran since 2023, recently returned from Tehran and reflected on the impact of these tragic events on his perspective.
- Farhadi's new film, Parallel Tales, premiered at Cannes and features a prominent French cast; he continues to avoid making films in Iran due to censorship laws.
- He has called on filmmakers to speak out against the war and condemned attacks on civilian infrastructure as war crimes.