Asghar Farhadi's 'Salesman' premiered in Iran on Wednesday, August 31, with an unusual showing as early as 6:45 in the morning at Azadi Cinema Complex in central Tehran.
The tickets for the film, which has started screening at 15 cinemas in Tehran, were completely sold out for the first three days (the first weekend); but due to the fans' huge welcome and numerous requests, Azadi Cinema added the early morning show to its screening schedule, unprecedented in Iran, and probably the world, and that was also fully booked.
Later, at 9:45 am, Farhadi attended the showing of his film at Kourosh Cineplex in the west of Tehran to see the movie along with the audience, mizanonline.ir reported.
Before the show started, Farhadi appreciated the huge presence of the public and said, "People have always been kind to me by appreciating my films. I hope they enjoy 'The Salesman' as well, and it can promote a dialogue among the people on its subject matter".
The two-hour movie is about a high school teacher (Shahab Hosseini) who seeks revenge against the perpetrator who attacks his wife (Taraneh Alidoosti) in their apartment.
After watching the movie, many in the audience praised the work, especially the unexpected ending, which they said "surprised" them.
The film debuted in Cannes Film Festival earlier in May and following rave reviews it received the best actor (Hosseini) and best screenplay (Farhadi) awards.
A coproduction of Farhadi and the French company Memento Films Production, the film has Babak Karimi, Mina Sadati and Farid Sajjadi Hosseini also in the cast and will start screening in many countries later this month.
The drama thriller has already gained a rating of 9.1 out of 10 from the users of IMDB (Internet Movie Database). Further, due to the local enthusiasm to watch Farhadi's latest award-winning film, it will most likely end up among the top five bestsellers of the year, if not the top place.
The film has the chance to be submitted to the Academy Awards as Iran's nominee for the best foreign language film in Oscars 2017.
Farhadi left Iran for Spain on Wednesday night to start work on his next film which will be set in the European country. Renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar will join Farhadi in production of the Spanish language film which will have Spanish actress Penelope Cruz in the cast.
