Asghar Farhadi Criticizes Hollywood’s Portrayal of Foreign Nations at Rio Film Festival

Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi recently expressed his disapproval of Hollywood’s portrayal of Iran and other countries, calling it misleading. These comments came during the Rio Film Festival in Brazil, where he was promoting his movie Parallel Tales.

During the event, Farhadi spoke about the 2012 film Argo, which won the Best Picture Oscar a year after his own film A Separation secured the Best Foreign Language Film award. Directed by Ben Affleck, Argo stars Affleck as CIA operative Tony Mendez. The film follows Mendez’s mission to rescue six U.S. diplomats from Iran by posing as a filmmaker working on a science-fiction movie.

Farhadi criticized Argo as a typical Hollywood creation that lacks depth, highlighting its theme of a “White guy” saving others, despite the real-life Mendez being of Mexican descent. He remarked, “They make these movies for money; it’s a business,” according to Variety. Farhadi questioned the narrative of Americans being saviors, asking, “Who asked you to come and save us?”

Farhadi accused Argo, which is set against the backdrop of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, of portraying Iran negatively, stating it depicted Iran “like you’re in hell.” He further criticized Hollywood and some Americans for their condescending worldview, suggesting they regard themselves as superior.

Additionally, Farhadi rejected the notion of America being a democracy, asserting that “the real America” consists of marginalized groups, such as Black and foreign prisoners. He bluntly declared, “You don’t have democracy. It’s a lie.”

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for comments from both Farhadi and Affleck. Media Research Center President David Bozell responded to Farhadi’s remarks, pointing out that films about American heroism are created “for a reason.” He stated, “America was asked to save the world, and we did, not once, but twice.” Bozell emphasized, “Maybe Hollywood makes movies about Americans saving the world for a reason.”

Lindsay Kornick serves as an associate editor at Fox News Digital. She can be contacted for story tips via email at [email protected] or on Twitter @lmkornick.