Farhadi to introduce rep for Oscars

World-known Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is set to introduce a representative for the Academy Awards ceremony.

In continuation to protest US President Donald Trump’s visa ban order, the Iranian director of the Oscar nominated film ‘The Salesman’ will introduce representatives to the Oscar Academy Awards.

It has been said that probably one of the two prominent Iranian Americans, engineer Anousheh Ansari, known as the first female space tourist, and/or Dr. Firouz Naderi, the director of Solar Systems Exploration at NASA, may represent his film ‘The Salesman’ at the upcoming Oscars ceremony.

Farhadi’s ‘The Salesman’ is nominated for the foreign-language film Oscar.

I would not attend the Oscars ceremony next month even if I was granted an exception to US President visa ban for citizens from Iran and six other predominantly Muslim countries, Farhadi said on January 29.

The film’s French producer, Alexandre Mallet-Guy, recently said in an email that he had decided not to attend the ceremony in solidarity with the director, and that nobody from the film would attend the ceremony.

The Academy also released a statement slamming US President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on visa ban for seven Muslim-majority countries.

“As supporters of filmmakers and the human rights of all people around the globe, we find it extremely troubling that Asghar Farhadi, the director of the Oscar-winning film from Iran, ‘A Separation,’ along with the cast and crew of this year's Oscar-nominated film ‘The Salesman,’ could be barred from entering the country because of their religion or country of origin,” the statement read.

The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), to honor the best films and cineastes of 2016, will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 26, 2017.

US President Donald Trump has recently ordered US borders to be closed for 4 months to refugees. Visa issuance has also been banned for 7 Muslim countries for 3 months.

The US decision has extensively been slammed by human rights bodies, artists, authors and people in cinema industry, indicating that Trump has targeted Muslims for their beliefs.

MG/RSH