Farhadi Congratulates Team for Oscar Nomination
Iran is in the race for an Oscar award in the foreign language film category with the psychological thriller ‘The Salesman’ directed by celebrated filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, who in 2012 earned for Iran its first-ever Academy Award with ‘A Separation’.
All the nominations for the 89th Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday, and Farhadi’s film will compete with four others including Danish war drama ‘Land of Mine’, quirky German comedy ‘ Toni Erdmann’, Australian entry about a remote Pacific tribe ‘ Tanna’ and the tale of a grumpy old man ‘ A Man Called Ove’ from Sweden.
Speaking on the nomination, Farhadi said, “It is a great honor to see the name of Iran in the list.”
He said he condoled with the Iranian people and shared their immense grief over the traumatic Plasco building collapse and death of “some of our compatriots and magnanimous and humble firefighting heroes.” He wished patience for the victims’ families, ISNA quoted him as saying.
He was referring to the 17-floor commercial high-rise in downtown Tehran that collapsed on January 19 after a fire broke out. The number of casualties, including shop owners, workers, ordinary people and firefighters is not clear yet.
“I congratulate all my colleagues in the ‘The Salesman’ and recall the memory of my dear friend and colleague Yadollah Najafi, sound recordist of the film, who left us for good last year. May his soul rest in peace,” Farhadi added.
Talking to AP about the positive reviews on his movie, the 44-year-old director said, “Any film can have an impact on our feelings and when the film is over, the feelings linger into thoughts and reflections. At the root of any kind of change, there is thoughtfulness and reflection.”
“In the making of my films, I don’t face any difficulty,” he told Reuters. “But when the film is released, notwithstanding its great reception by the public, there is a minority, a very small minority, who attempt to create obstacles. Those kinds of people would even perceive this nomination as some kind of conspiracy.”
The Oscar ceremony will take place on February 26 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles