Asghar Farhadi's latest film, 'Parallel Stories,' has won the Best Screenplay award at the XIII Silk Road International Film Festival, which was held in China.
At the festival's closing ceremony on September 23rd in Xi'an, the film's victory was announced, according to the ISNA agency. 'Parallel Stories' was co-written by Asghar Farhadi and his brother Said Farhadi.
The world premiere of the film took place at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, where it was warmly received by audiences who gave it a seven-minute ovation. This new film, created by the two-time Oscar winner, was shot in Paris in the autumn of 2025 and premiered in French cinemas concurrently with its showing in Cannes.
The cast includes Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Ekaterina Denev, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Ninney, and Adam Besse. The drama, set in Paris, is inspired by an episode from Krzysztof Kieślowski's television series 'Decalogue.' In this story, Huppert plays a reclusive writer who constantly observes her neighbors (Cassel, Efira, and Ninney) across the street, inventing fictional narratives around them. The line between truth and fiction blurs when a young homeless assistant (Besse) brings these stories into the real world.
'Parallel Stories' is Farhadi's second French-language film after 'A Separation' with Bérénice Bejo, which won Best Actress at Cannes in 2013. The film is a co-production of France, Italy, and Belgium, and is produced by long-time partner Alexandre Mallé-Guy alongside Farhadi and David Levine.
This marks the fifth collaboration between Farhadi and Memento Production following films such as 'A Separation,' the Oscar-winning 'The Salesman,' 'All We See,' and 'The Hero.' Farhadi, one of Iran's most renowned filmmakers known for his profound explorations of social issues, is 54 years old.
He won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012 for 'Separation' (which was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay) and again in 2017 for 'The Salesman.' His works 'A Separation,' 'The Salesman,' 'All We See,' and 'The Hero' have all participated in the Cannes Film Festival competition four times. 'The Salesman' won awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actor in 2016, while 'The Hero' won the Grand Prix in 2021.
'All We See,' Farhadi's debut in Spanish with Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, was screened and competed at Cannes in 2018. Farhadi has also participated twice in the Berlin Film Festival, where he received the Silver Bear for Best Director for 'O Elly' in 2009, and the Golden Bear for 'Separation' in 2011.
The XIII Silk Road International Film Festival opened on September 19th in Xi'an under the theme 'The Silk Road Connects the World, Light and Shadow Shine Over Chang'an.' The festival received 2130 applications from 139 countries and regions, and 23 works made it to the shortlist for the 'Golden Silk Road' Awards. The festival also hosted a series of events dedicated to international co-production, industrial cooperation, micro-dramas, and virtual reality films.
The Silk Road International Film Festival (SRIFF) was established by the Administration of Press, Publications, Radio, Cinema, and Television in 2014 to comprehensively implement China's national 'Belt and Road' strategy. Its goal is to promote cultural exchange and cooperation among countries along the 'Belt and Road' routes and further develop China's audiovisual industry. SRIFF is held annually (alternating between the cities of Xi'an and Fuzhou) and is jointly sponsored by the Shaanxi Provincial Government and the Fujian Provincial Government. It is divided into sections: Competition, Panorama, Forum, Market, and Interactive Events.