TEHRAN – Mohammad-Hossein Qasemi, the producer of Iran’s submission to the 2018 Oscars “Breath”, who is also the husband of the film’s director Narges Abyar, said on Wednesday that he was pleased Iran has sent a movie by a female filmmaker to the 90th Academy Awards. “Women have a greater potential for making a film […]
TEHRAN – Mohammad-Hossein Qasemi, the producer of Iran’s submission to the 2018 Oscars “Breath”, who is also the husband of the film’s director Narges Abyar, said on Wednesday that he was pleased Iran has sent a movie by a female filmmaker to the 90th Academy Awards.
“Women have a greater potential for making a film and competing at international events,” Qasemi told the Persian service of Tasnim.
A committee of nine cineastes selected as Iran’s submission to the 90th Academy Awards in the best foreign-language film category on Tuesday.
In her an interview with the Persian service of MNA on Wednesday, Abyar called the choice of her film as Iran’s submission to the Oscars a big event and added, “I suppose that women have been given more confidence.”
“Being a good film is not the sole criterion for winning an Oscar,” she said and added, “More measures such as arranging international screenings and having a contract with a reputable company for international distribution of the film are also requirements.”
Iranian Independents, a company marketing Iranian independent feature and documentary films, is the international distributor of “Breath”.
“I have complete confidence in the cinematic charter, aesthetics, theme and the high standards of ‘Breath’,” Mohammad Atebbai, the director of the company, wrote in a press release published on Wednesday.
However, he asked the Cinema Organization of Iran to help the company in the promotion of the film in the international arena.
Abyar has said that she made “Breath” in praise of peace. The film shows how wars crush children’s dreams and hopes for a bright future.
Abyar won the Golden Wolf for best director for “Breath” at the 20th Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia in November 2016.
She also was picked as best director for the film at the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival in the Canadian city in March 2017.
