Azadeh Masihzadeh, former student of the Iranian filmmaker, accuses her of having copied her documentary. The two films are inspired by the same news item.
by
On July 13, 2021, at 2 p.m., the Iranian multi -printed filmmaker Asghar Farhadi climbed the steps of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, surrounded by the team of a hero, presented in official selection. He does not suspect that five spies have slipped into the Louis-Lumière auditorium to examine his film, plan by plan. Sent by their comrade Azadeh Masihzadeh, a former Farhadi student, they are responsible for making a detailed report to the young woman. Staying in Tehran, she intends to check an intuition that has been mine for more than two years: the undisputed master of Iranian cinema was inspired by the documentary All Winners, All Losers, which she carried out during an internship with him ?
At the center of the two films: a man detained in Chiraz prison for unpaid debt. During a permission, he found a bag in the street filled with gold coins. After hesitation, he decides to return it to its owner. The press seizes it and makes it a local hero, before doubt settled … did he make the money or invented this whole story to restore his coat of arms? What strikes here is the mirror effect of this ambiguous gesture that it wins appearances. In fact, behind the scenes, a similar question arises: did Farhadi acted with loyalty to his student or did he use her research for her own account?
On July 17, 2021, the filmmaker won the Grand Prix, but, a year later, like his hero, the fate turns against him. Following the complaint of Azadeh Masihzadeh for plagiarism, the Tehran prosecutor’s office indicates him, detecting in his film similarities with the work of his student. In response to this decision, the Cannes Film Festival joined this year in the jury for its 75th edition, Asghar Farhadi, who expressed himself, for the first time, on the case from the Croisette: “My film and the documentary of this person are inspired by the same news item. The history of this prisoner had been reported by newspapers and reports of the time. It belongs to the public domain. The question of copyright does not arise “If it is difficult to know if the complaint of Masihzadeh will follow its course on the instruction side, the case, seen in its details, turns out to be dotted with gray areas which weaken the implacable logic of copyright as described it the filmmaker.
History begins in 2014, at the Karnameh Arts and Culture Institute, in Tehran. Asghar Farhadi leads a workshop in which the trainees carry out, in small groups, documentaries on the following theme: the heroisation of individuals in society, taking the particular case of these anonymous people who find valuables and make them to their owners. While the students divide the subjects, Azadeh Masihzadeh, from Chiraz, the city of poets located 900 kilometers south of the capital, decides to work on a local history in order to reduce its expenses. On the spot, an acquaintance reports to her that she saw a report on the Fars regional channel (Fars province TV), a few years earlier, on a prisoner from Chiraz.
You have 73.36% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.