‘Sun Children’ makes Oscars shortlist

Iranian film ‘Sun Children’ has made the 2021 Oscars shortlist for Best International Feature Film after the preliminary round of voting by members of the Academy.

The 93rd Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (OSCARS) announced its nominees in nine categories and Majid Majidi’s ‘Sun Children’ has been named among 15 movies shortlisted for International Feature Film category.

The films are ready for the next round of voting by Academy members. After the voting, five final nominees will be announced on March 15, 2021.

Majidi’s film will compete with the following films ‘Quo Vadias, Aida?’ from Bosnia and Herzegovina, ‘The Mole Agent’ from Chile, ‘Charlatan’ from Czech Republic, ‘Another Round’ from Denmark, ‘Two Of Us’ from France, ‘La Llorona’ from Guatemala, ‘Better Days’ from Hong Kong, ‘Night Of The Kings’ from Ivory Coast, ‘I'm No Longer Here’ from Mexico, ‘Hope’ from Norway, ‘Collective’ from Romania, ‘Dear Comrads!’ from Russia, ‘A Sun’ from Taiwan, and ‘The Man Who Sold His Skin’ from Tunisia.

‘Sun Children’ tells the story of a 12-year-old boy and his three friends. They work quite hard to financially support their needy families while they sometimes commit petty crimes to make easy money.

Everything changes, however, when one of them is entrusted to find a hidden treasure underground, but he must first enroll at the Sun (Khorshid) School, a charitable institution that tries to educate street kids and children suffering child labor.

Co-written by Nima Javidi and Majidi, some notable actors such as Ali Nasiriyan, Javad Ezzati, and Tannaz Tabatabaee have appeared in the film.

The movie has gone on screen at several global events, including the 77th Venice Film Festival in Italy, where it brought the Marcello Mastroianni Award to its young actor Rouhollah Zamani.

PR/MM