Doha: Despite making a political statement recently by boycotting the Oscars, Iranian filmmaker and two-time Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi told Gulf News he does not see himself making a political film.
Farhadi’s The Salesman won best foreign language film award at last month’s Oscars ceremony, which he chose not to attend in protest of the travel ban imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The ban of citizens targeted seven Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Somalia, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Sudan and Iraq — although Trump later removed Iraq from the list.
Farhadi said his boycott was in support of citizens of these countries who had been “disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the US”.
Farhadi, however, does not believe in making films that deliver political messages.
“I don’t like to save the world through the very narrow view of politics. I like dealing with society, with people, not with politicians,” he told Gulf News during a video-linked press conference at Qumra, a six-day film event organised by the Doha Film Institute.
“Messages are no longer valid. Films should ask questions rather than try to give answers or make statements,” the 44-year-old director said.
The Salesman intricately links the relationship of an Iranian couple with the story of the play they are performing on stage.
The Tehran-based drama won eight awards across the festival circuit before the Oscar win.
Farhadi’s meticulously-worded Oscar acceptance speech was read out by two Iranian-American space scientists, Anousheh Ansari and Firouz Naderi.
“I chose them very carefully as they are Iranian immigrants who have achieved important successes in the US, and their profession is interesting because when they are above the earth in the skies they don’t see any borders and divisions that may be so visible and distracting on ground,” he said.
When asked how the Iranian authorities reacted to his win, Farhadi said, “Some people see everything from a political angle so they had a bitter interpretation but doesn’t matter to me.”
With 11 film projects and several awards under his belt, Farhadi has announced plans for his next film, which will feature Spanish-speaking stars Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
Without revealing details of the film, which will be set in Spain, Farhadi said it will be focused on “family”.
