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 Amen�bar�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.