Level 1 — Absolute Beginner

There is a big film festival in France every year. It is called Cannes. Movie stars and directors go there.

A director from Iran has a new movie. His name is Asghar Farhadi. The movie is called 'Parallel Tales'.

Big French stars are in the film. Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve are two of them. People clapped for seven minutes after they watched it.

Many people think the movie could win the top prize. The prize is called the Palme d'Or.

festival

a big special event with lots of people

France

a country in Europe

year

twelve months

movie

a story that you watch on a screen

star

a famous person, often an actor

director

the person who is in charge of making a film

clap

to hit your hands together to show you like something

prize

something you get when you win

Level 2 — Elementary

The 79th Cannes Film Festival is taking place right now on the French Riviera. On May 14, the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi returned to the main competition with his new French-language film, 'Parallel Tales'.

The film stars Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Cassel, Virginie Efira, Pierre Niney and Adam Bessa — one of the strongest casts in this year's line-up. After the screening in the Grand Theatre Lumiere, the audience gave the film a seven-minute standing ovation.

Farhadi has won two Academy Awards in the past, for 'A Separation' and 'The Salesman'. His Cannes appearance also gave him a chance to talk to journalists about the difficult situation in Iran, where many of his actor friends and colleagues are working under pressure.

Critics are divided. Some say it is his best film since 'A Separation'. Others were cooler, with the early Rotten Tomatoes score around 25 per cent. Even so, bookmakers have moved 'Parallel Tales' near the top of their lists for the Palme d'Or, which will be awarded on May 23.

competition

an event where people or films try to be the best and win a prize

French Riviera

the southern Mediterranean coast of France

screening

an official showing of a film

standing ovation

when the audience stands up to clap and show strong approval

Academy Award

another name for an Oscar, a major film prize

critic

a person who writes opinions about films, books or art

bookmaker

a person or business that takes bets on the result of a contest

Palme d'Or

the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival

Level 3 — Intermediate

Asghar Farhadi returned to the Cannes Film Festival's main competition on May 14 with 'Parallel Tales', a French-language ensemble drama whose Theatre Lumiere premiere drew a seven-minute standing ovation and rocketed the Iranian filmmaker back into the upper tier of Palme d'Or contenders for the 79th edition.

The cast brings together a Who's Who of French cinema: Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Cassel, Virginie Efira, Pierre Niney, the Tunisian-French actor Adam Bessa, and the writer-actor India Hair. The screenplay weaves three Paris-set storylines that gradually cross paths, with cinematographer Yorgos Lambridis lighting key sequences in chiaroscuro that critics likened to late Sokurov.

Farhadi is no stranger to Cannes — 'The Past' competed there in 2013 — but his higher profile derives from two Academy Awards for best international feature: 'A Separation' (2011) and 'The Salesman' (2017). He used his press conference at the Palais on Thursday to speak frankly about the political situation in Iran, calling for international solidarity with artists and journalists who continue to work under restriction at home.

Critical reception so far is sharply split. Variety and Deadline ran broadly enthusiastic reviews, while World of Reel and an early Rotten Tomatoes tally hovering around 25 per cent argue that the film's ambitions outrun its dramatic compression. Even so, oddsmakers have moved 'Parallel Tales' to a 5-to-2 share of the Palme d'Or market, behind only Pawel Pawlikowski's 'Fatherland', with the prize itself to be presented at the festival's closing ceremony on May 23.

ensemble

a film or play with a large cast where no single role dominates

premiere

the first official public showing of a film

screenplay

the written script of a film, with dialogue and scene descriptions

cinematographer

the person who designs the lighting and camera work of a film

chiaroscuro

a strong contrast between light and dark areas in an image

solidarity

support given to others to show that you share their cause

oddsmaker

a person who sets the betting odds for an event

closing ceremony

the final formal event of a festival where awards are usually given

Level 4 — Advanced

Asghar Farhadi's return to Cannes after a nine-year absence from the main competition was greeted on the evening of May 14 by a seven-minute standing ovation in the Grand Theatre Lumiere — a duration that, while modest by the festival's hyperbolic standards, sits comfortably above the median for a competition title and well above the polite three minutes typically reserved for politely-received entries. 'Parallel Tales,' shot in French and partly in Persian, is Farhadi's first project outside Iran since 'The Past' (2013), and arguably his most explicit attempt to translate his moral-suspense grammar into a continental European register.

Cast against type and across generations, the picture pairs Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve for the first time in a Farhadi film, with Vincent Cassel anchoring the second narrative thread and Virginie Efira and Pierre Niney carrying the third. The Tunisian-French actor Adam Bessa supplies the connective tissue between the three strands, while India Hair contributes a written-acted hinge sequence that, several critics noted, recalls the formal interweave of Krzysztof Kieslowski's 'Three Colours' trilogy more than any direct Farhadi precedent. Yorgos Lambridis's chiaroscuro photography — heavy on practical light from windows and Parisian street lamps — was singled out by Variety as one of the year's most accomplished cinematography turns to date.

Farhadi used his Palais press conference to call for international solidarity with Iranian filmmakers, journalists and women's-rights activists working under restriction at home, citing colleagues unable to leave the country to attend Cannes and pointedly drawing a parallel with Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi, whose recent transfer from Zanjan Prison to Tehran Pars Hospital has dominated Iranian news cycles. The director declined to take a position on the wider US-Iran confrontation, but his presence on the Croisette — at a moment when the Strait of Hormuz crisis dominates European foreign-policy debate — gave the screening an unmistakable political charge.

Critical reception has been notably bifurcated: Variety, Deadline and Indiewire posted broadly enthusiastic notices, while World of Reel's running aggregator and an early Rotten Tomatoes tally hovering around 25 per cent reflect a sharply unfavourable read by a vocal minority who argue that the multi-strand structure dissipates the moral pressure that defined 'A Separation' and 'The Salesman'. Oddsmakers, weighting the festival jury's known sympathies and Park Chan-wook's stated preference for tonal restraint, have nonetheless moved 'Parallel Tales' to a 5-to-2 share of the Palme d'Or market, behind only Pawel Pawlikowski's 'Fatherland'. The award itself will be presented at the festival's closing ceremony on May 23, with Werner Herzog also confirmed for an honorary Palme.

moral-suspense

a narrative mode in which ethical choices, rather than physical danger, drive tension

continental European register

the stylistic and tonal conventions characteristic of mainland European cinema