Issuing a statement at the end of a press conference for his film Everybody Knows, which opened this year’s festival, Farhadi said that he had “difficulty living with” the fact that he was able to attend Cannes, while Panahi wasn’t.
Asghar Farhadi has called on the Iranian government to allow fellow Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi to travel to the Cannes film festival to present his new film.
“It’s a very strange feeling for me to be able to be here whereas he cannot be here,” Farhadi added.
The director’s newest film, Three Faces, has been included in the festival competition, with Cannes head Thierry Frémaux asking the French government for assistance in convincing Iran to allow Panahi to attend.