Asghar Farhadi Talks War, Hope and Cinema in Sarajevo

The Hollywood Reporter caught six minutes of Asghar Farhadi‘s time at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Tuesday.

Such is the schedule of the two-time Oscar winner, an Iranian filmmaker whose reputation precedes him here at the Bosnian film festival. Farhadi was president of the feature film competition jury in 2018, and returns this year as an Honorary Heart of Sarajevo recipient — an honor he is thrilled about.

“I have this very good memory when I was head of the jury here,” Farhadi, director of A Separation (2011), The Salesman (2016) and more recently, the Cannes-premiering Parallel Tales (2026), tells THR. “I went to screenings and the audience — most of them are people in the street and ordinary people. And I got feedback from them, which is a little different than other festivals. To me, it was very interesting. When they said, ‘We want to invite you again,’ I said, ‘Of course,’ because the audience is very special. When they want to give [me] this award, I appreciate it.”

Of course, Farhadi is no stranger to cinema’s capacity to bring communities together. As his native Iran, currently at war with the U.S. and Israel — and at a time when fellow filmmaker Jafar Panahi faces prison on charges of “propaganda against the regime” — Farhadi has never been so certain that the people of Iran deserve more. “When I finished [shooting Parallel Tales] in France, I moved back — by ground,” he says about returning, “[I went] by car over the border of Iran to be there. Because I love the people, that culture. I grew up there, and I love them.”

Farhadi continues: “I’m against war. Not just in Europe [and the Middle East], but everywhere.” He is quick to respond when probed on whether it is more important than ever that the industry embraces the intersection of film and politics. “Everything that happens in society affects cinema. But it takes time to see the result of this joining [of] cinema and politics,” he says. “It’s not something that happens today, and then you see the effects of tomorrow. In cinema, it takes time.”

He does, however, feel well supported by his colleagues in Hollywood and across the international film industry. “It’s solidarity about everything in general, because we are human,” says Farhadi from Sarajevo’s grand National Theatre. “When you feel pain somewhere, and you give a reaction to that pain, it gives some solidarity and it has value.”

Farhadi has spoken out previously against what’s happening in Iran, and in April issued a rallying cry when U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to destroy a “whole civilization” in the region. “I call on artists and filmmakers everywhere in the world to be a voice in these critical days and hours, in any way possible, to stop the destructive aggression that has increasingly destroyed civilian infrastructure.” He reminds THR of that statement, as well as his comments in Cannes on the subject.

Isabelle Huppert and Virginie Efira led Farhadi’s French-language Parallel Tales, a film about Sylvie (Huppert), a fading novelist in search of inspiration for her next book, who starts spying on her neighbors across the street. She hires young Adam (Adam Bessa) to help her with her daily routine. Little does she know that he will turn her life and work upside down.

It earned a polite ovation in Cannes this year. Upon its premiere there, the feature comfortably sold worldwide, including in Canada (Mongrel Media), Latin America (Imovision), Germany and Austria (Studiocanal), Spain (Avalon) and Bulgaria and the Adriatics (MCF).

But its director is already getting back to business and declines to reveal too much about his next feature. “I’m thinking, I’m writing,” he laughs, “but it takes time, and it’s too early [to put] some details out there. I’m working on it.”

For now, Farhadi is content enjoying his time in Bosnia and Herzegovina, preparing to pick up yet another award. “It is difficult to overstate Asghar Farhadi’s significance to world cinema,” said Jovan Marjanović, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival. “His remarkable body of work reminds us that the most profound dramas are often concealed within everyday life. His films do not offer easy answers; instead, they invite us to look more closely, listen more carefully and engage with life’s complexities.”

The filmmaker adds that mid-tier festivals like Sarajevo, Locarno, Karlovy Vary and San Sebastian are vital in a rapidly changing industry, especially with streaming services vying for the spotlight. “These days, based on [the] competition between cinema and platforms, festivals like this can help cinema,” Farhadi says. “People watch films, but on their cell phone, and this kind of festival keeps this ceremony [going] — I mean, when a family goes to the theater and they sit together, they watch a film together and they talk together. This is a holy ceremony to me. Festivals can help encourage people to do that.”

He makes a point of noting that he always likes to highlight the work of emerging filmmakers in his interviews. “[Festivals] are trying to give this. new generation of filmmakers [a chance],” says Farhadi. They make their film based on their art, in their personality. Their source should come from the inside, not something [external].”

Are there any particular up-and-coming directors who have caught the attention of Asghar Farhadi? “There is a lot everywhere, he says. “I go to some festivals and watch a new generation of filmmakers, and I’m very hopeful about their cinematic language and artistic language. It’s a little bit different than before,” he adds.

“The rhythm is different, their style is different, the way that they look [at] real life is different. But I’m very hopeful when I see films from South America, from Iran, from countries like this. I’m very hopeful about cinema. I don’t believe cinema is dying. Some people say cinema is dying, but no. I think cinema is still going, is still alive. But it’s gradually changing. It is finding a new language.”

The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival runs Aug. 14-21.