Asghar Farhadi’s Cannes Film “Parallel Tales” Sells to Multiple Buyers Through Charades
Asghar Farhadi’s new drama “Parallel Tales” has secured wide international sales after its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, signaling strong global interest in the latest work from the two-time Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker. The film returns Farhadi to a contemporary Paris setting and features a prominent French cast led by Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Adam Bessa.
“Parallel Tales” centers on a group of interconnected characters whose lives are gradually entangled through revelations and shifting perspectives. The story reflects Farhadi’s familiar themes of truth, morality and the complexity of human relationships, continuing the dramatic style that has defined many of his most acclaimed films.
The movie was produced by Alexandre Mallet-Guy through Memento Production in France, alongside Lucky Red in Italy and Cineart in Benelux. In France, the film has already been released theatrically by Memento Distribution.
Charades has closed sales for the title across a long list of territories, extending the film’s reach well beyond Europe. The deals include Canada, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Germany and Austria, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Scandinavia, Bulgaria and the Adriatics, the CIS, the Baltics, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Israel, Switzerland, Turkey, Lebanon and the Gulf states, India, and Indonesia. The breadth of these agreements highlights the continuing international appeal of Farhadi’s films and the commercial value of prestige world-cinema titles with major festival exposure.
“Parallel Tales” is Farhadi’s first French-language feature since “The Past,” which earned Berenice Bejo a best actress prize at Cannes. It is also his fifth film to premiere at the festival. Farhadi made the project in exile after leaving Iran in 2022, following the death of Mahsa Amini and the protests that spread across the country. His career has included internationally recognized films such as “A Separation,” “The Salesman” and “A Hero,” as well as “Everybody Knows,” starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, which opened Cannes in 2018 and screened in competition.
The strong sales performance for “Parallel Tales” comes as Farhadi remains one of the most internationally respected directors working today, with Cannes again serving as a major launchpad for his latest socially layered and character-driven drama.
