Iran Press/ Europe: With Ghahreman (A Hero), Asghar Farhadi has allowed himself a remarkable return to Iran. Following The Past (Le Passé, 2013), which won the Best Actress award for Bérénice Bejo, The Salesman (Forushande, 2016), which won Best Screenplay and Best Actor, and Everybody Knows starring Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and Ricardo Darín, this was the fourth film In Competition for the Writer-Director and marks his return to the psychological thriller.
Asghar Farhadi created three leading roles for his previous film. In Ghahreman, the "hero" is Rahim (Amir Jadidi), in prison because of an unpaid debt. While he is on leave, the woman he loves, who believes in him, convinces him to try to pay it off with a bag loaded with money that she found. His decision has repercussions that transform the protagonist into a hero.
As he does in all his films, Asgar Farhadi takes his character right to the limit: a young man full of hope who always thinks that everything will turn out all right, who discovers from experience the pitfalls of media attention.
In A Hero, the director has again cast his daughter, Sarina Farhadi (Nazanin), who he also worked with in A Separation. The film was shot in Shiraz, the ancient capital of Persia in the south of Iran, and one of the country's cultural and artistic capitals.
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