2012 Cannes Film Festival Predictions: Adel Yaraghi’s Ashnaee ba Leila

Gist: Details are very slight on this debut project from actor Adel Yaraghi, who co-wrote the script with Abbas Kiarostami. Hinting vaguely toward comedy, the premise sees a chainsmoker forced to quit his bad habit before marrying his beautiful fiancée, Leila (played by A Separation lead actress, Leila Hatami). That his profession depends on his smoking habit only complicates the situation.

Prediction: Kiarostami is already a sure thing on the red carpet with his new film Like Someone in Love, so it’s not a far-fetched possibility that they could double-up to bring this almost-finished project to a sidebar – maybe Critic’s Week for the first-timer – and have two Kiarostami-penned pictures, especially with the strong support for Iranian cinema at the moment.