Muslim and Immigrant Filmmakers to Boycott the Oscars
Asghar Farhadi accepting his Oscar at the 2012 Academy Awards Ceremony.BY: Stephanie Yasi Farokhi/Contributing Writer
The 89th Academy Awards airing this Sunday will be unlike any Oscars ceremony seen before. The Oscars have already become extremely political before even airing, with groups and people protesting the international event.
Trump’s unsuccessful attempt at implementing the Muslim ban has angered numerous Americans, including Oscar nominated actors around the globe. Many nominated individuals have chosen to boycott the show as a consequence of President Trump and his policies.
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is up for best foreign-language film. While Asghari won this exact same award in 2012 for his film, A Separation, he has decided to make a bold move and boycott this year’s Oscars ceremony. In the days following Trump’s immigration ban – which bans all citizens from Iran and 6 other nationalities from entering the country – decided that he would no longer be attending the awards ceremony.
In a statement, Farhadi said, “I hereby express my condemnation of the unjust conditions forced upon some of my compatriots and the citizens of the other six countries trying to legally enter the United States of America and hope that the current situation will not give rise to further divide between nations.”
The star of the Iranian film, Taraneh Alidoosti added, “Trump’s visa ban on Iranians is racist,” and also stated that she will not attend the ceremony out of protest.
A major entertainment agency will also be protesting the Oscars. Variety has reported that United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the largest acting agencies, has officially cancelled its annual Oscars party and will instead donate $250,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union and the International Rescue Committee. UTA will also host a “United Voices” rally outside their headquarters in Los Angeles on February 24, the Friday immediately preceding the Oscars ceremony.
“Our world is a better place for the free exchange of artists, ideas and creative expression. If our nation ceases to be the place where artists the world over can come to express themselves freely, then we cease, in my opinion, to be America,” UTA’s CEO said in a press release.
In the end, Trump’s first attempt at his immigration ban elicited obvious consequences, from airport protests to marches across America. Despite winning the best foreign-language film in a previous Oscars ceremony, Asghar Farhadi and other stars from his latest Oscar nominated film do not feel welcomed in America at this time.
Farhadi and Alidoosti’s protest of this Sunday’s Oscars ceremony echoes the wider sentiments of many Muslims and Arabs living in the U.S. and around the globe, who have been targeted by Trump’s policies.
Not even an event celebrating Farhadi or Alidoosti and their accomplishments make them feel welcome in the U.S. at this time. The boycott of the Oscars by some of its Muslim nominees proves that this ban has affected individuals’ perceptions about Trump’s America. Instead of being the land of the free, people are becoming fearful to attend even the least controversial or political events.