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Could Iranian Thriller ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ Cause the Academy to Rethink How Countries Select International Oscar Candidates?
Iranian thriller 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' is fueling a rallying cry for the Academy to rethink how international Oscars candidates are selected.
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s politically-charged thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” which has been chosen to represent Germany in the upcoming international feature film Oscar race, is becoming a catalyst for calls urging the Academy to rethink the system under which countries submit their candidates. Dubai-based producer Kaveh Farnam, who heads the dissident Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFMA), has long been urging the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to reconsider its rapport with Iran’s state-run Farabi Cinema Foundation, which picks the country’s Oscar contenders. While many of its immediate predecessors have been box office successes, China’s choice for this year is the more obscure documentary “The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru.” It documents how 380 British prisoners of war were rescued by Chinese fishermen after the Japanese transport ship they were being carried on was torpedoed by the U.S. navy during WWII.
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