Asghar Farhadi talked about the conflict in his home country, Iran, during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival for his new movie "Parallel Tales," saying, "Any murder is a crime."
Soon after, he was asked about the war between Iran, the U.S., and Israel.
Farhadi has been living outside of Iran since 2023, but he was in Tehran recently and saw the effects of "two tragic events."
One of these events was the death of many innocent people, including children and civilians, who were killed in the war.
Before that, there was the death of a number of demonstrators who were also innocent and were killed in the streets, Farhadi said through a translator. "These two events are extremely painful and will never be forgotten," he added.
He also mentioned Iran's response, which included missile and drone attacks on Israel, and expressed sympathy for the victims.
"Being angry and showing anger over the death of innocent people, civilians who were killed because of the bombing, doesn’t mean you support the execution or the death of demonstrators," he explained. "Feeling empathy for those killed in demonstrations doesn’t mean you can’t also feel empathy for those who died in the bombing."
Farhadi concluded, "Any murder is a crime.
Under no circumstances can I accept that another human being should lose their life, whether it's due to war, executions, or the massacre of demonstrators. It's extremely cruel and tragic to know that, despite all the progress we are supposed to have made, every morning we wake up to news of new innocent lives being taken without any reason at all."
"Parallel Tales" premiered on Thursday night with a 5.5-minute standing ovation for Farhadi and his French cast, including Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Adam Bessa, Pierre Niney, and Catherine Deneuve.
The French drama follows Sylvie (Huppert), who spies on her neighbors across the street for inspiration for her new novel. "When she hires young Adam (Bessa) to help with her daily routine, she has no idea that he will turn her life and her work upside down, until the fiction she had imagined surpasses the reality of them all," the synopsis continues.
Farhadi has spoken out about the situation in Iran before, urging his fellow filmmakers to speak up.
In a statement in April, he wrote, "Attacking a country's infrastructure is a war crime. Regardless of any beliefs or attitudes, let's unite to stop this inhumane, illegal, and destructive process."
