Variety: Asghar Farhadi’s return to Cannes with his double prize-winning “The Salesman” comes after the Iranian auteur’s Paris-set “The Past” vied for a Palme d’Or in 2013. It also marks his somewhat unexpected return to shooting in Iran after “A Separation.”

“The Salesman” stood out as this year’s only competition film to score two nods, one for actor Shaab Hosseini and the best screenplay prize for Farhadi.

Following “A Separation,” which in 2012 became the first Iranian film to win an Oscar, Farhadi had seemingly embarked on a path similar to his revered compatriot Abbas Kiarostami, whose last two films, “Certified Copy” (2010) and “Like Someone in Love” (2012), were shot respectively in Tuscany and Japan.

Though neither director would publicly admit it, shooting outside Iran was certainly less problematic, and the lure of A-list international movie stars, photogenic locations, and bigger budgets, had pull.

Speaking after the Cannes premiere of “The Salesman,” Farhadi (pictured) explained that after it was announced last year that he would segue from “The Past” to shooting a film in Spain, he got “nostalgic” and changed plans >>>