Jafar Panahi's New Film Premieres; Iran Once Again in the Spotlight at Cannes Festival

On the fifth day of the Cannes Film Festival, Iran once again became the center of attention. The screening of Jafar Panahi's film "Three Faces" took place in the absence of its director, alongside two other films in which Iranian filmmakers were significant contributors: "Girls of the Sun" starring Golshifteh Farahani and "Fahrenheit 451" directed by Ramin Bahrani and co-written by him and Amir Naderi. In this regard, Saturday's Cannes festival was dominated by Iranians. Jafar Panahi, who despite numerous requests was ultimately not granted permission to leave Iran, witnessed the screening of one of his films in the competition section of Cannes for the first time. Previously, he had participated in other sections of the Cannes festival with films such as "The White Balloon," "Crimson Gold," and "This Is Not a Film." This year, he is testing his luck for the Palme d'Or with "Three Faces." Despite multiple requests from Iranian filmmakers and Cannes officials, he was again not allowed to attend the festival with his film, and in his absence, Behnaz Jafari and Marzieh Razaei, the film's actresses, and the film's editor, Mastaneh Mohajer, attended the red carpet with their children. Before and after the film screening, the audience stood and cheered for several minutes while Mr. Panahi's empty seat was shown, encouraging the Iranian director. "Three Faces" is a road movie narrating the journey of Jafar Panahi and Behnaz Jafari to a village near Miane to find a girl who has asked for help by sending them a video. In this video, the young girl, played by Marzieh Razaei, speaks about her family's opposition to her studying at university and apparently hangs herself. The film depicts Panahi and Jafari's efforts to find this girl and talk to her family and acquaintances. The absence of Jafar Panahi at the press conference for "Three Faces" on Sunday, May 13, signifies that for followers of Panahi's films, "Three Faces" continues the path of "Taxi," with the difference that this time the camera has moved from the city to the village, portraying the problems of Iran's poorer classes. Unlike "Taxi," this film is more "directed," indicating relatively better conditions for filmmaking in its specific definition for Mr. Panahi. Alongside the theme of prejudice and opposition to girls' education, the film also references the challenges faced by filmmakers active before the Iranian revolution, and even Shahrzad, an actress from several significant films like "Gheisar," enters the narrative. The film also features an interesting scene where Behrouz Vossoughi is mentioned in the midst of a strange conversation. At times, the film recalls important works from Abbas Kiarostami's career, such as "Life, and Nothing But..." and "The Wind Will Carry Us," depicting a journey through untouched nature in pursuit of a character that everyone initially tries to deny. Although "Three Faces" is a more "directed" and narratively coherent work compared to Panahi's recent films, it still falls short of his significant works like "The Circle" and "Crimson Gold." Nevertheless, it is considered a serious representative of critical films from recent years in Iran. Another film screened on Saturday in the competition section of Cannes was "Girls of the Sun," featuring Golshifteh Farahani as a Yazidi Kurdish girl warrior amidst the Syrian civil war. This film, directed by Eve Husson, a well-known French female filmmaker, presents a narrative of women's significant presence in the Syrian upheavals. Golshifteh Farahani plays a young educated woman who, upon returning to her village in Kurdistan, is kidnapped along with her son and hundreds of other women by ISIS forces. She eventually escapes and joins one of the armed Kurdish women's brigades to retrieve her child. The film recalls events that happened to Bahar, the protagonist, who accompanies a French female journalist played by Emmanuel Berco in one of the operations. Their companionship ultimately leads to a form of equality. After the screening of "Girls of the Sun" at this year's Cannes, Iranian cinema audiences had previously seen Golshifteh Farahani in the role of a Kurdish girl in the film "The Tear of Cold." In an era when women are at the center of attention at Cannes, a film with a focus on women about one of the most tumultuous events in the world today is considered a strong contender for attention at the Cannes closing ceremony. In the late hours of Saturday, Ramin Bahrani's latest film, "Fahrenheit 451," was also screened in the special presentations section of Cannes. This film is a new adaptation of Ray Bradbury's important story, produced with a significant budget and featuring well-known actors like Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon. Amir Naderi, an old filmmaker of Iranian cinema who has lived abroad for years, collaborated with Mr. Bahrani in writing the screenplay for this film.