Asghar Farhadi Is Returning to Farsi for His Next Film, But Won’t Shoot in Iran

Asghar Farhadi is going back to his roots, well, sorta.

The two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker has confirmed he is writing his next feature in Farsi, with hopes of completing the screenplay within the next year. Plot details are being kept tightly under wraps, but Farhadi says the film will not be shot in Iran.

That said, Farhadi returned to Iran full-time earlier this year but remains unwilling to work there under the country’s current political and social oppression. “My wish is working in my language, my culture,” he told Screen at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Farhadi’s latest film, “Parallel Tales,” which got trounced by critics at Cannes and still has no U.S. distributor, was in French. Starring Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira and Vincent Cassel, it wasn’t as bad as the reviews would lead you to believe — 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s a semi-fun trifle of a film, with twists and turns, but ultimately way beneath the layered drama that we’ve come to expect from him.

Farhadi does rule out returning to the U.S., where he spent three years researching and writing the project. “After three years, I felt I couldn’t connect with the environment,” he said, eventually moving to France. The UK is now his preferred location for his next film.

Here is a filmmaker who has built a career out of making strong and intense family dramas. With “About Elly,” “A Separation,” “The Past,” “The Salesman,” and “A Hero,” the Iranian-born writer-director was once on the shortlist of modern world-class filmmakers. I’m not too sure if he still belongs there, but a new film by him is always welcome.

In the meantime, I do wonder if “Parallel Tales” will ever get shown in the U.S. Has there even been any interest from buyers? It didn’t show up in either the TIFF or NYFF lineups, either. It’s probably wise for Farhadi to return to his native language as that’s when he’s at his best.