The Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFMA) has stepped-up calls for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to reappraise its relationship with Iran’s government-controlled Farabi cinema body.
Up until now, AMPAS has accepted Farabi as the official organization overseeing Iran’s entry to the Best International Feature Film category.
Dissident Iranian cinema body IIFMA, which was created in 2023 in the wake of the Woman Life Freedom movement, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody on September 22, 2022, says the arrangement is misguided.
“This practice raises significant ethical issues, particularly in light of the ongoing censorship enforced by the Iranian government,” IIFMA wrote in a letter sent to AMPAS this week and made available to Deadline.
“The Farabi Cinema Foundation, in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, operates within a framework that enforces strict guidelines on artistic expression in Iran,” continued the letter.
“By endorsing films submitted through these entities, the Academy unwittingly supports a censorship system that excludes vital voices, especially those of independent filmmakers and the Iranian diaspora. This focus fails to represent the true landscape of Iranian filmmaking, which is rich in diverse narratives, particularly as the independent film movement has flourished since the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.”
It has been a difficult year for independent filmmakers in Iran with several cases of state intimidation being reported.
In February, Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam appealed for international support after they received a court summons and anonymous death threats related to their film My Favourite Cake which world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2024.
In August, Cannes Palme d’Or winner Jafar Panahi raised the alarm for Iranian director Ali Ahmadzadeh, who won Locarno’s Golden Leopard for his clandestinely shot film Critical Zone in 2023, after his home was raided by a group of 50 armed men while he was shooting a new film.
The unidentified home invaders stole his phone; computers; a hard disk holding his past movies; awards, including his Golden Leopard, and shooting equipment, which was being rented, as well as personal papers and bank cards.
The IIFMA letter to AMPAS coincides with the announcement this week that a committee overseen by Farabi had selected Ali Zarnegars’ 2023 film Cause of Death: Unknown to represent Iran for the 98th Academy Awards.
The drama – about a group of travellers who find a large sum of money on a deceased man – premiered in the Shanghai Film Festival in June 2023 but has had little international exposure since.
Iranian media reports noted the fact that there were a number of films with bigger international profiles that would have been better suited to being Iran’s entry.
These were topped by Panahi’s Palme d’Or winning drama It Was Just An Accident as well as Saeed Roustayi’s Woman and Child which also competed in Cannes but went home empty handed. The latter film was made in cooperation with Iranian authorities and provoked anger from Woman Life Freedom supporters for the fact the female cast members all covered their hair.
Local media also noted Oktay Baraheni’s The Old Bachelor, which played in Rotterdam in 2024, winning the Big Screen Award.
In the meantime, supporters of Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident are looking for other routes for the film into the Oscars.
It is currently on the shortlist to represent France via its French co-producer and distributor alongside Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, Rebecca Zlotowski’s A Private Life, Ugo Bienvenu’s Arco and Hafsia Herzi’s The Little Sister.
A decision is due on Wednesday (September 17). If Panahi makes the cut, he will follows in the wake of friend and fellow dissident Mohammad Rasoulof who represented Germany with The Seed of the Sacred Fig at the 97th Academy Awards, making it to the nomination stage.
Against this backdrop, IIFMA urged the academy to reconsider its policies regarding film submissions from countries under autocratic rule, suggesting the creation of a special committee for dissident filmmakers.
“Establishing an independent committee of global representatives—particularly those from Iran who are free from governmental affiliation—would facilitate a broader and more authentic representation of Iranian cinema. This approach would empower the Academy to uplift a richer array of stories that reflect the true spirit of Iranian filmmakers, unencumbered by censorship,” it wrote.
“We believe it is time for the Academy to adopt a more principled stance on the representation of Iranian cinema, honoring the diversity and resilience of its filmmakers.”
So far, some 50 countries have submitted entries to the Best International Feature Film category, with another two weeks to go before the deadline of October 1. Check out our roundup here.
