10,000 to attend open-air screening of Iranian film in London

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s latest drama ‘The Salesman’ has been scheduled to be screened hours before the Academy Awards ceremony for thousands of people in central London.

The move is organized by London mayor to be held on February 26 as a protest against the US President Donald Trump's visa ban, which led Farhadi to boycott the Oscars.

The free premiere screening of the Oscar-nominated ‘The Salesman’ will absorb some British officials and cineastes, including Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London.

The Guardian wrote during the Academy Awards night on February 26, Trafalgar Square will be transformed into London’s biggest open-air cinema for the first UK showing of Asghar Farhadi’s drama.

Expected to attract an audience of up to 10,000 people in central London, the program will be addressed by leading names from the British film industry, including the Palme d’Or-winning director Mike Leigh.

Sadiq Khan has organized the screening, alongside actor Lily Cole, producer Kate Wilson and filmmaker Mark Donne.

The decision to hold the screening was made after actors and filmmakers, including Julie Christie, Kevin Macdonald, Keira Knightley, Ridley Scott and Terry Gilliam, wrote to the Duke of Westminster to ask for permission to hold it in front of the US embassy in London.

The film tells the story of a young couple named Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti) who move into a new flat in the center of Tehran. But an incident linked to the previous tenant dramatically changes their life.

Starring Taraneh Alidoosti and Shahab Hosseini, it is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

Hosseini won best actor at Cannes last year. The film also won best screenplay at Cannes.

Farhadi, who won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for ‘A Separation’ in 2012 said he would not attend this year’s ceremony even if he were offered special dispensation, in solidarity with those who had been banned.

Admiring the great symbolic value of the Trafalgar Square screening, he also said “The gathering of the audience around 'The Salesman' in this famous London square is symbolic of unity against the division and separation of people.”

Honoring Farhadi as “one of the world’s greatest filmmakers," Leigh said “For those of us who make movies about real life, real people and real issues, he is a master, a true inspiration to all of us. We must show solidarity with Asghar and his principles, against divisiveness and hate.”

Trump’s executive order, now blocked by US courts, was roundly condemned by the international community, the UN and human rights groups, including the International Rescue Committee and Amnesty International.

MG/AI