Iranian film-maker Asghar Farhadi’s choice of replacement speakers at the Oscars has won praise from Iranians and has been seen as adding an extra layer of subtlety to his message in absentia.
Farhadi won his second Oscar last night for The Salesman, about a couple whose relationship is thrown into disarray after an intruder surprises the wife in the shower. The story is influenced by Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The win has put him on a shortlist of elite directors who have won an Oscar in the foreign film category more than once, including Federico Fellini and Ingmar Bergman.
Farhadi boycotted the ceremony in Los Angeles “out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations” affected by Donald Trump’s travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries, which he said “have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the US”.
Instead he sent two Iranian-Americans to pick up the award and read his message. They were Firouz Naderi, a former Nasa scientist who was the project manager for the Mars exploration and Anousheh Ansari, the first self-funded woman in the world to have gone into space. In 2006, Ansari grabbed global headlines after becoming the first Iranian in space and also the first woman tourist to visit the international space station.
At the Oscars, Ansari read Farhadi’s message to the audience’s applause. “Dividing the world into the ‘us’ and ‘our enemies’ categories creates fear. A deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression.
Farhadi’s reference to “us” and the “enemies”, seen as a condemnation of Trump’s policies, also appeared to carry a message to politicians inside Iran. In January, when he announced the reasons behind his decision to boycott the Oscars, he targeted hardliners both in Iran and the US.
At the Oscars ceremony, Ansari wore a scarf around her body that depicted a map of her birthplace, the Iranian city of Mashhad, as seen from space. In remarks made to reporters after the speech, she said not coming to the Oscars was a difficult decision for Farhadi.
“It was very difficult, as you know this would be his second Oscar, and he would be the fourth foreign film-maker to receive two Oscars, it was a big deal for him. I think not coming he felt that it’s very important to make the statement that he made,” she said.
On Sunday, thousands of Iranians turned up at Trafalgar Square in London to watch The Salesman in a special open-air screening organised by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan.
Abbas Faiz, an Iranian independent human rights consultant, said the London gathering sent a “beautiful message”. “It shows the power of art, that it’s so potent. So many people in this world would not accept the negative and poisonous propaganda that is coming out from the new administration from the United States,” he said.