Iran selects Asghar Farhadi's A Hero as nomination for Oscars 2022 International Feature category

Having won the coveted Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival this year, Asghar Farhadi’s latest release yet again earned the seal of approval from the Farabi Cinema Foundation, which has almost exclusively selected the country’s Oscar picks since 1994. The foundation affirmed it had viewed 44 films in total before choosing _A Hero_ . Farhadi’s A Separation (2012) and The Salesman (2017) have already received Academy Awards in the foreign film category. A Hero recounts the story of Rahim, a man in prison for debt, whose girlfriend offers to repay what he owes using gold from a pouch found on the street. But the protagonist is ultimately struck by his conscience and instead opts to search for the original owner of the gold. Having learned of the affair, and in a bid to cover up a spate of suicides in the jail, the prison director releases Rahim’s story to the media. When social media gets wind of the tale, people begin doubting the veracity of the story and the hero is quickly labelled a hypocrite. Farhadi notably shunned the Oscars in 2017, despite his win, to protest against former US president Donald Trump’s ban on Muslim-majority countries including Iran. The 94th Academy Awards are due to be held on March 27, 2022.