Iranian filmmaker wins Oscar, blames Trump for 'disrespecting' migrants

LOS ANGELES, United States (Kurdistan24) – An Iranian film won an Oscar on Sunday, but the director refused to attend the ceremony in protest to US President Donald Trump’s now-repealed immigration ban.

The Salesman won the Academy Award for the best foreign-language movie.

Asghar Farhadi, the filmmaker who condemned Trump’s immigration ban as “unjust,” sent two Iranian-Americans, a female engineer and a former NASA scientist, to represent him.

“I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight,” Anousheh Ansari, the first female space tourist, read Farhadi’s statement.

“My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and the other six nations that have been disrespected by this inhumane law that bans the entry of immigrants to the US,” the statement added, prompting a round of applause from the packed auditorium.

The filmmaker emphasized films create empathy for others and unite people across political divides, prompting further applause.

On Jan. 27, President Trump signed an executive order barring people of seven countries from traveling to the US for a minimum of 90 days.

Three of those countries are considered sponsors of terrorism (Iran, Sudan, and Syria), and three are designated countries of concern (Libya, Somalia, and Yemen).

“I am establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the US,” Trump said during a press conference.

“We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people,” he continued.

The ban was later overturned by US courts, but the administration is working on a new executive travel order.

Moreover, a Kurdish filmmaker also lost the opportunity to attend the North American premier of his film due to the ban which was in place then.

The Dark Wind was screened in a section of the Miami Film Festival called Cinema 360, the world cinema panorama sidebar.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany