Rather shun the red carpet at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles than play into the hands of the Iranian regime. Taxed as “pro government” by several Internet users since his film A hero was chosen to represent Iran at the next Oscars, filmmaker Asghar Farhadi said he was ready to give up the competition rather than suffer such a qualification. He explained it in a long Instagram post, where he asserts in particular, addressing the authorities: “If Iran’s presentation of my film at the Oscars has led you to conclude that I am under your flag, I explicitly declare that I have no problem overturning that decision.”
“How can I be misleadingly associated with a government whose extremist media have never ceased in recent years to destroy me, marginalize me, stigmatize me”, writes the filmmaker, visibly very annoyed. “I have explicitly expressed my point of view on the suffering that [l’État] has imposed for years on the nation”, he assures, referring in particular to the repression of the demonstrations of 2017 and 2019 and the “cruel discrimination” against women as well as the management of the health crisis.
“You confiscated my passport several times and organized interrogation sessions”
Asghar Farhadi’s recriminations then take a more personal turn. The filmmaker reveals to have been under direct pressure from the Iranian authorities and to have been worried several times by the local police forces. “I have never had the slightest affinity with your backward attitude and ideas (although) I have never spoken until now of the persecution you have subjected me to. You confiscated my passport at the airport on several occasions and organized interrogation sessions”, writes the filmmaker.
The filmmaker, who lives between Iran and abroad, made the majority of his films in his country, in particular “A Hero”, Grand Prix of the last Cannes Film Festival, shot in Shiraz. He rose to fame thanks to “A Separation” (2011), chronicle of a divorce which had received the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, the César for Best Foreign Language Film and the Bear for Gold of the Berlin Festival. Asghar Farhadi has already represented the Islamic Republic of Iran at the Oscars four times since 2009.
Reacting to his open letter published on Instagram, the ultra-conservative daily Kayhan “deeply regret” that the state chose Asghar Farhadi to represent the country at the Oscars. “Festival awards and foreign investment apparently changed Farhadi by (encouraging him) to paint a gloomy and dirty image of Iran”, judges the newspaper. On the other hand, for the reformist daily Shargh, “Farhadi’s image matches neither those who praise him nor those who blame him in Iran. He has always clearly expressed his positions on socio-political issues..
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