Asghar Farhadi to shoot next film with A Prophet's Tahar Rahim

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is set to shoot his next film in Paris in spring 2012 with A Prophet actor Tahar Rahim in the lead role, Memento Films’ co-head Alexandre Mallet-Guy, who is producing the film, has confirmed.

 “Asghar has just delivered a first draft of the script – which is quite brilliant – and is working on a second version now,” said Mallet-Guy.

The as yet untitled picture will revolve around a love story between an Iranian girl and a boy of North African origins and be set against the backdrop of modern day Paris.

 “It’s difficult to sum up the story in one line but like A Separation the story will be complex and involve lots of twists and turns,” said Mallet-Guy. “It will be shot mainly in English, broken English, and about 20 percent in French.”

Memento handled both the international sales and French release of Farhadi’s Berlin Golden Bear winnerA Separation which is currently taking the French box office by storm.

Tahar Rahim, who won the 2010 Cesar for best male actor for his performance in Jacques Audiard’s Cannes Grand Prix winner A Prophet, is set to play the lead role, Mallet-Guy confirmed. The female lead has yet to be confirmed.

Memento will handle international sales of the feature as well as its distribution in France. As yet there are no other partners involved. Mallet-Guy said Memento would start financing the picture in September.

In the past, Tehran-based Farhadi has financed his films through private investors. A Separation, which was made for less than €1.0 million, was financed by a private Iranian bank.

It is an investment that has paid off. The film has been a surprise auteur hit in France where it has already attracted some 400,000 entries in three weeks and is expected to eventually exceed the 800,000 admissions mark.