The salesman receiving Oscar, Farhadi criticizing Trump's policies
Iranian film maker won Oscar's best foreign film, boycotting the ceremony for US president' immigration policies.
"Asghar Farhidi", Iranian director won the Oscar prize of foreign language film for the movie "ٰThe Salesman".
Due to Donald Trump's executive orders regarding immigrants, the film maker had decided not to attend the ceremony.
The award has been received by "Anooshe Ansari", Iranian astronaut on behalf of Farhadi. The following statement has been read out by her:
"I'm sorry, I'm not with you tonight. My absence is of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S."
Another Iranian coming on the stage, receiving his award was "Firouz Naderi", a former Nasa director.
“Dividing the world into the ‘us’ and ‘our enemies’ categories creates fear,” Ansari read. “A deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression.”
“Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others. An empathy which we need today more than ever.” The statement continued.