Tehran's propagandists did their idiotic best last week to tarnish the luster of the Oscar awarded to Iran's "A Separation, " Asghar Farhadi's portrait of contemporary life in Iran.

WSJ: This Is Not a Film | Let the Bullets Fly | Being Flynn | A Defiant 'No' to Iran's Repression | Film Reviews by Joe Morgenstern

Controversial Japanese director Takashi Miike's Straw Shield is a crime-thriller set in modern day politics while Iranian director, Asghar Farhadi - who won an Oscar for his film A Separation - directs The Artist actress Berenice Bejo in his new film The Past.

BBC: Cannes Film Festival line-up is announced

Simin wants to leave Iran with her husband and daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), but Nader refuses to leave his ailing father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi).

CNN: Review: 'A Separation' is a great family drama