CANNES, France – Asghar Farhadi, the Oscar-winning Iranian director, described the January crackdown on protesters and the ongoing war affecting Iran as deeply painful.
“I was in Tehran last week, and I am still carrying the impact,” Farhadi told journalists at the Cannes Film Festival, where his film “Parallel Tales” premiered.
“Both are deeply painful and will never be forgotten.”
In January, anti-government protests in Iran were met with the biggest crackdown in the country’s history. In late February, U.S. and Israeli airstrikes launched a war against Iran.
Farhadi added that reading about innocent deaths every day is painful.
His film “A Separation” became the first Iranian movie to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012.
He won again with “The Salesman” in 2017 but boycotted the ceremony over Trump’s travel ban.
