Asghar Farhadi used the platform of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival to forcefully deny allegations that he plagiarized his 2021 film A Hero.
A former student of the two-time Oscar winner has accused Farhadi of stealing the premise for A Hero from her original documentary All Winners, All Losers, without giving her credit. The claims are the subject of an ongoing court case in Iran.
“My film was not based on the documentary,” Farhadi said in Cannes on Tuesday, speaking at a press conference for the competition jury. “I think the matter will no doubt be cleared up. And I’m sorry it has created so much ill-feeling.”
Farhadi filed a countersuit against the former student, Azadeh Masihzadeh, accusing her of defamation, but that case has since been tossed out, with the court saying there was “insufficient evidence” to support Farhadi’s claims that Masihzadeh sought to damage his reputation.
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Masihzadeh claims that after developing All Winners, All Losers at a film workshop taught by Farhadi, the director used the documentary’s premise and many specific details of the plot as the basis for A Hero, which premiered in Cannes last year and won the Grand Prix.
The case has attracted fevered media attention in Iran, where Farhadi is a divisive figure. While he is his country’s most acclaimed director, the fact that Farhadi does not openly criticize Iran’s Islamic government has led some to accuse him of tacitly supporting the country’s autocratic rulers.
Farhadi is a member of this year’s Cannes jury, led by French actor Vincent Lindon (Titane). Joining them on the jury are actress-director Rebecca Hall (The Town), Danish-born Bollywood star Deepika Padukone (Chennai Express), Sweden’s Noomi Rapace (Lamb), Italian actress-director Jasmine Trinca (The Gunman), as well as directors Ladj Ly (Les Misérables), Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter) and Joachim Trier (The Worst Person in the World).
