A select group of film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals, academics and students of varying ages and backgrounds in the National Board of Review selected Farhadi’s The Salesman as the Best Foreign Language Film of the year.
According to a report covered by Mehr, the New York-based NBR also named Manchester by the Sea as the 2016 Best Film of the Year.
The NBR Annual Gala will be held on Wednesday, January 4, 2017 with NBC’s Willie Geist set to return as host
The Salesman, which premiered in Iran on August 31, won two prizes in the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Lead protagonist Shahab Hosseini won a Palme d’Or for best actor and Farhadi scooped the best screenplay award during the 69th edition of the festival.
The movie, which is Iran’s submission to the Academy Awards this year, is a taut moral drama about a married couple who are acting in Death of a Salesman, a play by Arthur Miller.
In 2012, Farhadi’s A Separation won Iran’s first Oscar for best foreign film.
