Arts & Entertainment

Asghar Farhadi says he promotes awareness through his films

By Alicia Garcia de Francisco

Cannes, France, Jul 14 (EFE).- Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi says he prefers to raise awareness through filmmaking as he returns to Cannes this year with A Hero.

“If I had written a statement about the execution of minors in Iran when I made my film Beautiful City, no one would have remembered it. The movie allows us to talk about these events,” Farhadi explains at a press conference on Wednesday.

“I think it has a greater impact. It is the expression mode that I have chosen,” he adds.

“When we face extremism and dogmatism, we cannot be extremists and dogmatic ourselves, we cannot fall for the same thing,” says the director when asked about an interview published earlier on the day in which he said that there is no freedom of expression in Iran.

A Hero tells the story of Rahim who is serving a sentence for an unpaid debt. When he takes a leave from prison, his girlfriend finds a bag full of gold coins that could help him pay off his debt and be free.

However, he decides to look for handbag’s owner, and there begins the climax of the story with problems and lies taking on social networks in a society in which reputation is everything.

“We are willing to lose everything to maintain our reputation in Iran,” Farhadi stresses.

Reputation is significantly important in Iranian society, according to Farhadi, who directed A Separation in 2011 that won the Oscar for best foreign language film.

When asked about the success of his films in Israel, he says that people who go to see one of his movies do not have to show their passports or say whether they are male or female.

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