Iranian drama film Sun Children directed by Majid Majidi has been selected as the representative of Iranian cinema to be introduced for the 2021 Academy Awards.
After several consecutive sessions, the delegation of the representative of Iranian cinema to the Oscar ceremony chose the drama. The secretary and spokesman for the representative of Iranian cinema to the 2021 Academy Awards said that due to the change in the rules of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the change in the deadline for participating in this period due to Covid-19 virus outbreak, the work of this committee began with reviewing 90 screened Iranian films and then the selection committee came up with a list of 12 films.
According to the delegation of the representative of Iranian cinema to the Oscar ceremony, “War drama Walnut Tree and the child labour movie Sun Children along with Yalda: A Night for Forgiveness and Careless Crime were among the movies competing to represent Iran during the 93rd Academy Awards in the best foreign-language film category.”
Oscar-nominated director Majid Majidi’s Sun Children had its world premiere during the 77th Venice Film Festival in September where the film’s star Ruhollah Zamani, was named the best young actor of the Italian festival by winning the Marcello Mastroianni Award.
Shamila Shirzad, the Afghan migrant youth who was working in Tehran subway shot to popularity as an actor after travelling to Venice and attending the 77th Venice International Film Festival. However, the 14-year-old Rouhollah Zamanisaghselou, who experienced his first-ever acting role, had to give the festival a miss after he tested positive for the Coronavirus and was unable to travel to Italy as planned.