Asghar Farhadi: I Will Never Abandon My Motherland

Avash News: Farhadi made the remarks during the Cannes Film Festival, where he attended the event with his latest work, The Parallel Tales.
In an interview with Variety, Farhadi elaborated on issues related to Iran as well as the process of making his latest film.
How did you make The Parallel Tales?
Farhadi said that the project began five years ago, when an American company proposed that he create a series based on one of the ten episodes of Dekalog by Krzysztof Kieślowski.
“I was never particularly interested in the series — and honestly, I still am not — so I did not take the proposal very seriously at first,” he said.
“However, they suggested that I speak with the co-writer of Kieślowski’s work, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, who unfortunately passed away recently.”
Farhadi explained that they spoke while he was in Tehran and Piesiewicz was in Poland.
“He suggested that I choose one of the episodes as a source of inspiration for a feature film. That idea seemed much more interesting to me,” Farhadi said.
“I then started thinking about which episode I should choose. I decided to rewatch the series, and eventually selected the one that had affected me the most: A Short Film About Love.”
Farhadi added that it was the first time he had made a film through adaptation.
“Iran Is My Home”
Asked whether Iran is the place where he feels he belongs as an artist, Farhadi responded with an emotional comparison.
“The sense of belonging to one’s homeland is like having an ill mother,” he said.
“If your mother is sick, there may not be much you can do for her. The only thing you can do is stay by her side and hold her hand. You cannot abandon her and leave her behind.”
“This is my homeland. My culture. My language. It is the place where I grew up, and my roots are there,” he added.
“I may travel abroad for work whenever necessary, but once my work is finished, I immediately return home.”
Farhadi recalled that on one occasion, after post-production work ended at 1 p.m., he was already at the airport by 5 p.m. to return to Iran.
The Parallel Tales, directed by Farhadi and financed by France, was presented at the Cannes Film Festival.