Iran's Asghar Farhadi wins Cannes prize

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who won this year's foreign-language picture Academy Award, claimed a prize at Cannes Sunday to help fund his next film, with fellow Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard. Farhadi, who made the wrenching family drama "A Separation", accepted the European Union's Prix Media with a 60,000-euro ($77,000) cash award. He said he would start filming the as-yet untitled picture starring Cotillard and fellow French actor Tahar Rahim later this year in France. "At a time when some politicians are trying to transform the beautiful rainbow of cultural diversity in the world into a field of differences and confrontations, I see this distinction as a very encouraging sign," Farhadi said, according to an EU statement. Cotillard, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of French torch singer Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose", is appearing in this year's Cannes contender "Rust and Bone" by Jacques Audiard. from ahramonline