Farhadi: In today’s world people are becoming more dehumanized

Asghar Farhadi stated that in the contemporary world, people are increasingly dehumanized and treated as numbers — a concern that inspired his new film, presented in Cannes and slated for release in November in Italy, according to ANSA.

Asghar Farhadi: statement on dehumanization and media (Cannes 2026)

In a streaming meeting from Mexico with Italian journalists, Asghar Farhadi highlighted the tendency to reduce individuals to statistics and superficial reports, including through the role that the media plays in this process, according to ANSA.

"Today people are transformed into numbers," Farhadi said, according to ANSA, underscoring the need for works that recover the humanity and interiority of the characters.

The Iranian director stated that cinema can function as a counterpoint to this logic, offering narratives that explore the inner complexity of characters rather than simplified portrayals.

Storie Parallele: film, cast and inspiration (Storie Parallele, Cannes 2026)

The film Storie Parallele is Farhadi’s new work, shot in France and shown in the official competition at the Festival of Cannes 2026, as reported by ANSA. The production brings together a heavyweight European cast: Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Adam Bessa.

The narrative centers on Sylvie (portrayed by Huppert), a writer who spies on neighbors for inspiration. The plot loosely draws on Kieslowski’s Dekalog Six — the Sixth Dekalog, associated with themes of adultery — and relocates these elements to an examination of daily surveillance and the boundaries between observer and observed.

Release and production: Lucky Red and premiere on 11/26 (Lucky Red)

Storie Parallele will reach theaters on November 26, distributed by Lucky Red, which also serves as a co-producer of the film, according to ANSA. Farhadi spoke about the movie in a virtual meeting held in Mexico with Italian correspondents, stating that the casting and language choices aimed to preserve the intimacy of the characters.

The commercial release after Cannes points to a distribution aimed at both festival audiences and viewers interested in contemporary European storytelling.

Why it matters for Brazilian readers and Italian descendants (Cannes 2026, Storie Parallele)

The film is relevant to Brazilian audiences and the descendants of Italians for several reasons:

• It brings together major names from European cinema that commonly attract international attention and cultural press coverage, topics covered in our Italy News.
• It was selected for the Cannes 2026 competition, an event followed by audiences and critics interested in international cinema and that influences European distribution.
• The approach to dehumanization and emphasis on interiority may appeal to readers attentive to social debates and intimate narratives — features often discussed in culture columns and Life in Italy.
• The co-production and distribution by an Italian company (Lucky Red) reinforce dialogue between European cinema and the Italian exhibition circuit, relevant for those following the Italian cultural market and coproduction practices, a topic sometimes linked to discussions about cultural mobility and Italian Citizenship in contexts of cultural migration.

Final notes on the work and reception

According to ANSA, Farhadi aimed with Storie Parallele to recover a careful look at subjectivity, countering the contemporary tendency to simplify people into categories. The presence of stars like Huppert and Deneuve and the Kieslowski inspiration place the film within a European tradition of moral and intimate reflections, which tends to attract both festival audiences and fans of auteur cinema.

Storie Parallele premieres on November 26 in Italy through Lucky Red and is expected to be included in the programming of cinemas that accompany prestigious European releases.

Source: ANSA