Iranian film ‘Lerd’ wins Certain Regard at Cannes 2017

Iranian film ‘Lerd’ (A Man of Integrity) directed by Mohammad Rasoulof has won the Un Certain Regard award at the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in France.

The Iranian director received the French award from US actress Uma Thurman, Un Certain Regard jury president, on Saturday.

“We are proud to present an aesthetically diverse and beautiful palmares," said Thurman.

‘Lerd’ is a tense drama about a man persecuted by powerful economic and political forces who refuses to bribe his way out of trouble.

Reza, having distanced himself from the urban quagmire, leads a simple life along with his wife and sole son, somewhere in a remote village in Northern Iran. He spends his days working in his gold fish farm.

Nearby, a private company with close links to the government and local authorities, has taken control of nearly every aspect of the regional life. Its shareholders, accumulating wealth, power and economic rents, have been pushing local farmers and small owners to dilapidate their belongings, farms and estates, to the benefit of the Company’s influential network and its monopoly.

It is under their pressure that many villagers themselveshave become local rings of the larger network of corruption.

Writer-director Rasoulof, 45, said he hoped the prize would make things easier for him to make films in Iran.

His win comes three months after Asghar Farhadi’s success with ‘The Salesman’ at the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

“International support has really helped all filmmakers and especially me, by stopping the pressure they were putting on us,” Rasoulof told media earlier in the festival.

Variety has described ‘Lerd’ as “a tense, enraging drama about corruption and injustice ... (that) manages to resonate on both specific and universal levels.”

Rasoulof had two other films in the previous sections of the French festival including ‘Goodbye’ and ‘Manuscripts Don’t Burn’. Both films won awards.

Un Certain Regard, a separate section from the main contest at Cannes, recognizes younger talent and innovative filmmaking.

The winners in the main competition, including the Palme d'Or for best picture, will be announced on May 28.

MG/MMF