Iranian Director Farhadi To Shoot Next Film In France

The acclaimed Iranian director Asghar Farhadi will shoot a French-language film in Paris next fall.

The news was announced by Memento Films’ Alexandre Mallet-Guy, who told the press that further details about the film will be released at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Mallet-Guy did say, however, that the film is not the previously announced love story between an Iranian girl and a North African boy set in Paris.

Farhadi’s A Separation won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in February and reaped box office success both domestically and abroad, with Memento Films handling the international distribution.

Despite the worldwide success of Farhadi’s film, Iranian authorities cancelled a celebration of his success by the Tehran film community.

Instead, Farhadi spent the day visiting a veteran of Iranian cinema, Shapour Gharib, who suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease.

Farhadi has announced that he will not attend a state ceremony planned for March 25 to celebrate his success, calling it a protest against the cancellation of the “simple and intimate ceremony” his peers had prepared for him earlier.

Farhadi reportedly told the media that there has been enough publicity and talk about A Separation both inside the country and abroad, adding: “It is better to use the funds budgeted for such ceremonies for members of the film community who are no longer able to work. This film will last.”

Shapour Gharib is the director of several films that were successful in Iran, including Mamal Emrikayi and Kako.