“The Past” is Asghar Farhadi’s first film shot outside of his homeland in France. His “A Separation” won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012.
Iran withdrew its submission “A Cube of Sugar” from the 2013 Academy Awards since the then culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini, boycotted the Oscars over the production of an anti-Islam video in the United States.
“The Broken Circle Breakdown” directed by Felix van Groeningen from Belgium, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker” by Danis Tanovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina, “The Missing Picture” by Rithy Panh from Cambodia, and “The Hunt” by Thomas Vinterberg from Denmark are among the titles on the shortlist.
In addition “Two Lives” by Georg Maas from Germany, “The Grandmaster” by Wong Kar-wai from Hong Kong, “The Notebook” by Janos Szasz from Hungary, “The Great Beauty” by Paolo Sorrentino from Italy, and “Omar” by Hany Abu-Assad from Palestine are the other films on the shortlist.
A committee of 30 high-profile members will choose the ultimate five nominees, which will be unveiled with the rest of the nominees on January 16.
Iran’s submission to the 2014 Oscars “The Past” missed the race in the foreign language film category as the Academy Awards organizers announced the nine semi-finalists on Friday.
News ID 185873
