TEHRAN – The Union of Iranian Directors, which is a division of the Iranian House of Cinema, has asked the Farabi Cinema Foundation to entrust selecting Iran’s Oscar submission to the house that is also known as the Iranian Alliance of Motion Pictures Guilds.

The request was made in a letter sent on Wednesday to Farabi, which has chosen Iran’s submission to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign-Language Film since 1995.

The union wrote that the Farabi selecting board for choosing Iran’s submission to the Oscars over the past 23 years has also had cinema executives and critics, and added that the fact is in conflict with the Academy’s rules.

Based on the Academy’s rules, the union said that only directors, actors, cinematographers, screenwriters, film editors, composers and sound engineers are allowed to become members of the selection board.

Submissions for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign-Language Film must be announced by 5 p.m. on September 1.

The 91st Academy Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019.

Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation” and “The Salesman” won Iran two Oscars in 2012 and 2017. 
 
MMS/YAW