‘The truth? It does not exist in an absolute sense’

It could have been the plot of a new feature film by two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi. How a young student accuses her teacher, a celebrated filmmaker, of making a good impression with her film idea. And how the pair, who sue each other, then become entangled in the Iranian legal system.

A divisive drama, in short, that Farhadi could just have delivered a third Oscar. But it’s not a movie, it’s real.

‘World famous director of the films A Separation and The Salesman charged with plagiarism,” the news reports reported last week. The idea for Farhadi’s new drama A Herowhich will open in Dutch cinemas from Thursday, is said to have been stolen from his former student Azadeh Masihzadeh,

In A Hero A detainee from Shiraz on leave tries to pay off his debts with a found wallet full of gold pieces. When it turns out that the gold price has fallen far too far for that, Rahim (actor Amir Jadidi) returns the loot to the woman who lost the stock market. Local television proclaims the detainee a hero and the neighborhood campaigns for his early release. But not everyone believes in the noble intentions of the finder.

The feature film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year and was awarded the Grand Prix, the most important prize after the Palme d’Or.

Masizadeh, who attended a workshop with Farhadi, made the documentary under his care All Winners, All Losers† About a real-life detainee from Shiraz who returned found money and was then proclaimed a hero in the local newspaper.

When Masizadeh A Hero saw and was shocked by the similarities, she promptly filed a complaint with the Iranian Film Commission. It got the legal ball rolling, up to the formal (probably uneffected) threat of whipping: 74 pieces, intended for those who falsely accuse another of slander.

In Cannes, long before the legal uproar started, the Iranian filmmaker spoke to foreign journalists. De Volkskrant asked him about the origin of his idea for A Hero† ‘It all started with my interest in the concept of heroism and in how much society needs heroes. That was already the case when I was a student at a performance of Brechts Life of Galilee saw (known for the quote: ‘Woe to the land that needs heroes’, red†

But more recently, about ten years ago, I started stories like that in A Hero to collect: news stories about people who suddenly became heroes in Iran, because of a good deed they had done. When I was teaching a workshop, I asked my students to go out and research each of those stories, to turn them into documentaries. One of them was in Shiraz, like the protagonist of the story in my movie. Once the footage of all the stories was in, I explored what those stories had in common. And that’s how I came up with the script idea A Hero†

Masizadeh states that she was the only one in the class to come up with her own news item, as the basis for her documentary. And that Farhadi her prior to the shooting of A Hero asked to sign a statement that the original idea for her film came from him. She didn’t dare say no, because he was ‘the great master of Iranian cinema’.

The Hollywood Reporter, which reported extensively on the case, pointed to Farhadi’s precarious position. Since his double Oscar win, the whole country has been watching the filmmaker. If Farhadi were openly critical of the Iranian regime, he could no longer work in his own country. But the fact that someone of his stature remains politically ignorant also arouses resentment, especially among the Iranian diaspora. ‘One half thinks he’s a hero’, a German-Iranian actor told the American magazine, ‘the other half a traitor’.

Iranian judges are currently considering the case. For those who saw both films, the judgment does not seem so difficult. Farhadi should have mentioned his student Masizadeh on his title role. Her documentary was one of the sources of his film.

Back to Cannes, where the 49-year-old filmmaker sits ready for the press, next to his interpreter.

In your movies there are not so much bad people as bad choices. Do you experience that in real life too?

“I believe that in real life there are indeed bad people, people who think about nothing but their personal interest and commit acts that only have to do with that interest. But in my films I try to show how circumstances can put people in a position where they make wrong decisions. Or decisions with consequences they cannot foresee.’

A Hero does not offer a ready-made answer to the question of how to act, he emphasizes. How good or bad the main character Rahim is, the audience has to decide for themselves. ‘I don’t even have answers to all my own questions, so I wouldn’t be able to give advice to others. But my feeling is, and that is perhaps the theme of my film, that the truth cannot be absolutely defined. I show Rahim with all his contradictions: sometimes he speaks the truth, sometimes he bends to the situation. As we all do in our lives. Perhaps that is sometimes a bit uncomfortable for the viewer, who is used to more unambiguous characters.’

A Hero is also about the reputation of the main character. Can you explain how heavy such a reputation weighs in Iran?

‘Yes, that fact is strongly present, not only in this film, but also in my earlier film Everybody Knows (Spanish Todos lo sabenwith Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, red† I don’t know how that works everywhere else, but in many societies, including Iran’s, it’s something important. Your image, the way you are known in society, is like accumulated capital, a treasure that gives you stability and that makes others trust you. Very important.

‘At the same time, it creates tension in people who do their best to maintain or expand this image, which means that they have to sacrifice certain aspects of their lives. They go against their personal desires or wishes, in order to be able to meet the expectations of the other, the view of the environment. I’ve always found the importance of such an image somewhat ambivalent. And I like to question it in my films.’

How important was winning the Oscars to your reputation in Iran?

‘That too is something ambivalent. On the one hand, it has brought me popularity. And the kindness of my people – of course I appreciate it. On the other hand, I still don’t feel comfortable with what you call fame: the fact that you’re more exposed.’

Farhadi made films in France and Spain, but considers Iran to be his cinephile base. ‘My wish is to make most of my films in my own country. Although you can never completely determine or predict it per title: an idea lends itself well to a certain location. That could be Iran, but it could also be another place. I will continue to work in Iran for as long as I can.’