TEHRAN – Majid Majidi, whose “Sun Children” is Iran’s submission to the 2021 Oscars, has said that the U.S. sanctions on Iran over the past 40 years have been a crime against humanity.

He made the remarks in a master class he held at the Hainan International Film Festival in China last Friday. The festival also screened “Sun Children”.

He added that the people of Iran have been through hard times because of the cruel U.S. sanctions over the past 40 days.

He said that Iran wants independence and want to stand on their own, but the U.S. cannot accept that and has chosen sanctions. 

He also remarked that the U.S. has even imposed sanctions on the supply of medicine to Iran and one of the reasons behind the high death toll of CODVI-19 in Iran is because of the sanctions.

This has no name but a crime against humanity, he said. 

He also expressed thanks to the people and government of China for their support of the Iranian nation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Majidi will be doing his next project on the coronavirus pandemic in China. 

In his interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Wednesday, he said that he will be traveling to Yunnan Province in southwest China after the festival to scout for potential locations for his upcoming movie. This follows a trip to the eastern city of Hangzhou for the same purpose.

Majidi said the film centers on a little girl during the coronavirus crisis, without giving more details. He added that the cast will be all Chinese.  

This is not the first time that the director has taken part in the Chinese film circuit. Last year, Majidi served as one of the seven jury members at the 9th Beijing International Film Festival.

The child labor drama “Sun Children” is also one of Iran’s submissions to the foreign language film category of the 78th Golden Globe Awards.

The movie tells the story of 12-year-old Ali and his three friends. Together, they work hard to survive and support their families, doing small jobs in a garage and committing petty crimes to make fast money. 

“Sun Children” has been acclaimed previously in several festivals. The film won the Crystal Simorgh for best film at the 38th Fajr Film Festival in Tehran in February.

It was named best film in the international competition of the 33rd International Film Festival for Children and Youth in Isfahan in late October. Majidi was also crowned the best director.

The movie brought Ruhollah Zamani the award for best actor and Majidi the Zaven Qukasian, a Golden Butterfly.

Zamani was named the best young actor at the 77th Venice Film Festival, winning the Marcello Mastroianni Award in September.

Photo: Iranian director Majid Majidi (C) holds a master class at the Hainan International Film Festival in the Chinese city of Sanya on December 11, 2020.

RM/MMS/YAW