French film production and distribution company Celluloid Dreams, based in Paris, has acquired world sales rights to Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s new film ‘3 Faces’ ahead of its world premiere in the Cannes Film Festival in May.
The Celluloid Dreams draws on a long collaboration between its founding president Hengameh Panahi and the filmmaker, dating back to his first feature film ‘The White Balloon’, which premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 1995, Screendaily.com reported.
“I started working on Iranian films with Abbas Kiarostami’s films. Jafar was his assistant and Abbas wrote the script of his first film, The White Balloon, which won the Golden Camera at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival,” she said.
It will be the first time Panahi premieres in Competition in Cannes, after winning the top prizes at Locarno with ‘The Mirror’, at Venice with ‘The Circle’ and Berlin with ‘Taxi Tehran’.
‘3 Faces’ is about three actresses at different stages of their career. One from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, one popular star of today known throughout the country and a young girl longing to attend a drama conservatory.
The filmmaker was last in the Official Selection at Cannes in 2003 with ‘Crimson Gold’ which played in Un Certain Regard, winning the special jury award.
According to the announcement by the Cannes Festival organizers, new movies from celebrated filmmakers Spike Lee, Jean-Luc Godard and Oscar-winning director Pawel Pawlikowski join the lineup which also includes Jafar Panahi and Asghar Farhadi.
Farhadi’s Spanish thriller ‘Everybody Knows’, starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, will also open the festival slated for May 8-19.
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