Iranian distributor seeking to premiere Asghar Farhadi’s “Past”

 

The €11-million picture is his first project that is being shot outside of his native Iran.

 

The French company, Memento Films Production, is the producer of the film.

 

“We have entered into negotiations and I hope we can screen the film after we obtain the necessary permissions (from the Iranian cultural authorities),” Filmiran Managing Director Ali Sartipi told the Persian service of ILNA on Saturday.

 

The French-language film is about an Iranian man, who has long-term domestic problems with his French wife. He deserts his wife and two children to go back to his homeland, Iran. In the mean time, his wife is seeing a French man and therefore writes to him and asks for a divorce which compels the man to come back to France, only to see his wife's new partner in his home beside his children.

 

French actor of Algerian origin Tahar Rahim and Argentine-French star Bérénice Bejo play the leading roles in the film. Iranian actor Ali Mosaffa is also a main member of the cast.

 

“The Past” is scheduled to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

 

Farhadi was honored for the film with the first EU MEDIA prize during the 65th Cannes Film Festival in May 2012.

 

The MEDIA prize is awarded by the Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, a member of the European Commission, for the best project with box-office potential submitted by a screenwriter and a production company.

 

Farhadi’s previous film “A Separation” won an Oscar, Golden Globe and French César for best foreign film earlier in 2012 as well as Berlin’s Golden Bear in 2011.

 

MMS/YAW

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