Iran selection misses the cut for an Oscar nominee

December 29, 2017

Iran’s Foreign Language Academy Award entry for 2018, Narges Abyar’s Iran-Iraq war drama “Breath,” did not make the Academy’s shortlist of nine films that was announced this month.

The nine films will now compete for five nomination slots for best foreign-language film.

Also missing from the shortlist was Angelina Jolie’s “First They Killed My Father,” which was submitted by Cambodia.

The shortlist of films was chosen from a record 92 titles. The selected films will now be screened for nominating committees in New York, Los Angeles and London, and the final list of five will be announced January 23.

The films on the shortlist, and their country of origin, are:

• Chile, ‘A Fantastic Woman’ by Sebastian Lelio
• Germany, ‘In the Fade’ by Fatih Akin
• Hungary, ‘On Body and Soul’ by Ildiko Enyedi
• Israel, ‘Foxtrot’ by Samuel Maoz
• Lebanon, ‘The Insult’ by Ziad Doueiri
• Russia, ‘Loveless’ by Andrey Zvyagintsev
• Senegal, ‘Felicite’ by Alain Gomis
• South Africa, ‘The Wound’ by John Trengove
• Sweden, ‘The Square’ by Ruben Ostlund

Last year’s winner was Iranian director Asghar Farhadi for “The Salesman.”  Farhadi also won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film in 2012 for  “A Separation.”  Those are the only Oscars won any category won by Iranians.