Asghar Farhadi on Paris-Set ‘Parallel Tales’ and Returning to War-Battered Iran: ‘It’s Like Having a Sick Mother…You Cannot Leave Her and Just Let Her Be’

The director of “A Separation,” “The Salesman” and “A Hero” had been living abroad until last month when, after finishing "Tales," he decided to return to his beloved, now war-battered, home country

By Nick Vivarelli

Nick Vivarelli

International Correspondent

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Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian auteur Asghar Farhadi is back in Cannes for the fifth time with French-language drama “Parallel Tales,” a film he made in exile after leaving Iran in 2022. He had decided not to return following the death of Mahsa Amini and the ensuing protests that prompted the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising which marked the most significant challenge to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

Since then, the director of “A Separation,” “The Salesman” and “A Hero,” became a distant dissident. Until last month, when, after finishing “Tales,” he returned to his beloved, now war-battered, home country before coming to Cannes.

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