Written by Mirkaraimi and Shadmehr Rastin, ‘Today’ chronicles the story of a Tehran taxi driver who becomes the impromptu protector of a desperate young pregnant woman after he rushes her to hospital.
The film was recently screened in the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. The cast includes famed Iranian actor Parviz Parastouei and actress Shabnam Moqaddami.
The committee for selecting the Iranian submission to the Oscars picked out the flick from among 57 nominees.
The list included ‘Azar, Shahdokht, Parviz and Others’ by Behrouz Afkhami, ‘Extradite’ by Ali Ghaffari, ‘Today’ by Reza Mirkarimi, ‘Snow’ by Mehdi Rahmani, ‘All Alone’ by Ehsan Abdipour, ‘Che’ by Ebrahim Hatamikia.
‘Keep Up a Good Job’ by Afshin Hashemi, ‘Special Line’ by Mostafa Kiaei, ‘The Life of Mr. and Mrs. Mahmoudi’ by Rouhollah Hejazi and ‘The Sealed Secret’ by Hadi Moqimdoust were other movies on the shortlist.
Assigned by the Farabi Cinema Foundation, the committee members were Habib Ahmadzadeh, Amir Esfandiari, Ahmad Moini, Arash Amini, Amin Tarokh, Iraj Taqipour, Parviz Sheikhtadi, Mohammad Baqer Qahremani and Majid Mirfakhraei.
The Academy Awards, commonly known as The Oscars, is an annual American awards ceremony to honor cinematic achievements in the film industry.
