London Film Screening Backs Oscar-Nominated Iranian Director
Thousands of film fans gathered in London's Trafalgar Square for a screening of a film by an Iranian director who was nominated for an Oscar but is boycotting the Academy Awards in protest over U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban policies.
On February 26, just hours before the start of the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles, as many as 10,000 people gathered in London for the outdoor screening of The Salesman by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi.
Farhadi's movie is among the nominations for the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2017 Oscars.
Farhadi refused to attend the Oscars in protest at Trump's executive order banning visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.
Farhadi announced last month that he would not attend the Oscar Awards on February 26 even if the U.S. government gave him special permission to travel.
Iran is one of the seven countries on Trump's travel ban list.
The Iranian filmmaker stuck by his decision even after a U.S. federal court ruled against the travel ban.
