Oscar-winning Iranian urges Tehran: Let banned director go to Cannes
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CANNES, France - The double-Oscar winning filmmaker who opened the Cannes Film Festival has made a last-minute plea to Iran to let a fellow Iranian director - who is officially banned from working and travelling - come to the premiere of his own film.
Seated alongside Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, the stars of his new movie, Asghar Farhadi said Iran should allow acclaimed director Jafar Panahi to attend the festival where they both have movies competing for the Palme d'Or.
"I think there's still time," he said of getting Panahi to the Saturday premiere of his film "3 Faces". In it, Panahi plays himself, a filmmaker, who is asked by an actress to help a provincial girl who has made a video plea for assistance in dealing with her conservative family.
"I would like to send this message: I hope the decision will be taken to allow him to come," Farhadi said at the end of a news conference on his own movie "Everybody Knows" on Wednesday.
