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Iranian director and crew may be banned from attending Oscars
The motion picture academy says the possible visa ban of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose feature film The Salesman is nominated for a best foreign language Oscar, is “extremely troubling.” In a statement released over the weekend, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expressed concern that Farhadi and his cast and crew may not be permitted to attend next month’s Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles following President Trump’s plan to temporarily suspend issuing visas for people from Iran and six other Muslim countries. Farhadi has not commented on his travel plans, but the president of the National Iranian American Council, Trita Parsi, tweeted: “Confirmed: Iran’s Asghar Farhadi won’t be let into the US to attend Oscars.” Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the The Salesman, tweeted she would boycott the Oscars — whether allowed to attend or not — in protest of Trump’s immigration policies, which she called “racist.” In its statement, the academy said, “As supporters of filmmakers — and the human rights of all people — around the globe, we find it extremely troubling that Asghar Farhadi, the director of the Oscar-winning film from Iran A Separation, along with the cast and crew of this year’s Oscar-nominated film The Salesman, could be barred from entering the country because of their religion or country of origin.” -AFP
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Producers Guild Awards mirror Oscar nominations
The movies up for top honours at the Producers Guild Awards are nearly identical to those up for best picture at the Oscars, with the exception of Deadpool. Producers included Deadpool among its 10 nominees for the Darryl F Zanuck Award, along with Arrival, Fences, Hidden Figures, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Lion, La La Land, Manchester By the Sea and Moonlight. The winner will be announced on Saturday in a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Producers have predicted the Oscars’ best-picture winner for seven of the eight past years. The groups diverged last year, when the guild picked The Big Short and the film academy chose Spotlight. The Producers Guild will also present awards in nine other film and TV categories. -AP
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Sunny Pawar bonds with Dev Patel and Australia
Child actor Sunny Pawar, who made his debut in the Oscar-nominated film Lion said he developed a bond with co-star Dev Patel and enjoyed shooting in Australia. Pawar said: “Although we shot in Bhopal, Kolkata, I loved shooting in Australia. The place was so beautiful. There were so many places to roam and play around, we went there after shooting and I loved the place.” Lion, an adaptation of the non-fiction book A Long Way Home, centres on the story of a boy, Saroo, looking for his roots. Dev Patel plays the lead character and Pawar plays a young Saroo in the movie. Pawar lives with his parents and two younger siblings in a slum in Mumbai and landed the role of Saroo in an audition. The film has been nominated for six Oscars. -IANS
