IFP - Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, the two-time Oscar-winning director of “A Separation” and “The Salesman,” has started principal photography on “Everybody Knows”, his new psychological thriller starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.





Budgeted at 10 million euros ($11.8 million), the Spanish-language film is being produced by Alexandre Mallet-Guy at Paris-based Memento Films Production and Alvaro Longoria at Spanish outfit Morena Films.

Written by Farhadi, “Everybody Knows” follows the journey of Carolina as she travels with her family from Buenos Aires to her hometown in Spain for a celebration. Meant to be a brief visit, the trip is disturbed by unforeseen events that will completely change the lives of Carolina and her family.

Farhadi earlier revealed the high-profile, real-life Bardem-Cruz couple will “not necessarily” play an on-screen couple in the Spanish-language feature.

“Once again there are different couples in my film, not only one,” Farhadi told Screen in March, of what is a recurring theme of his work.

“The film is again about family and family relationships. But there are also some new aspects in it. Yes [Cruz and Bardem] are in the film but they are not necessarily a couple in the film.”

The non-Spanish speaker said he has written the script for the new film in Farsi and it has been translated into Spanish. “I don’t speak Spanish,” he explained via a translator. “But I have time between now and the shoot to at least become more familiar with the music of the film and do my best.”

“Everybody Knows,” which has started shooting near Madrid, is being sold worldwide by Memento Films International, according to Variety.

“Everybody Knows” marks the third collaboration between Farhadi and Mallet-Guy after “The Salesman” and “The Past,” which Memento Films produced and distributed in France. Before winning a foreign-language Oscar, “The Salesman” scooped two awards at last year’s Cannes for best script for Farhadi and best actor for Shahab Hosseini, while “The Past” earned Berenice Bejo a best actress award at Cannes in 2013.

“Everybody Knows’” key crew includes Jose-Luis Alcaine, a cinematographer who has worked with Carlos Saura, Bigas Luna and Pedro Almodovar; Sonia Grande, the costume designer of Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” and Alejandro Amenábar’s “The Others”; and Hayedeh Safiyari, the editor who worked with Farhadi on “A Separation” and “The Salesman.”

France 3 Cinema, Lucky Red, Untitled Films Aie and Asghar Farhadi Production are co-producing “Everybody Knows” in association with Memento Films Distribution, Cofinova and Indefilms.

“Everybody Knows” is being backed by Canal Plus, Eurimages, France Televisions, Movistar, Cine + and ICAA.