Iranian director’s short film nominated for Oscar

A film by an Iranian director has been initially shortlisted for the best Live Action Short Film at the 87th Academy Awards.

Parvaneh, the 25-minute short film by Talkhon Hamzavi, is one of the 10 motion pictures selected from a 141 qualified short films in this Oscar Awards category.

Parvaneh narrates the story of an Afghan girl who has entered a refugee camp in Switzerland, but when she comes to know about her father’s poor health condition in Afghanistan, she decides to send the whole money she had illegally earned in the foreign land to her family.

She is forced to go to the city of Zurich, but due to not possessing a valid passport, she finds herself unable to follow her initial aim. Meanwhile, she meets a girl named Emily, and the rest of the story is determined by their friendship.

Hamzavi, who is currently living in Switzerland, has produced her film in German language. She had formerly participated in various foreign film festivals with Parvaneh, and in 2013, won the silver medal for the best foreign film at Student Academy Awards.

Her film was forwarded to the Oscars from the country of her residence. She was born in 1979 in Tehran, and migrated to Switzerland when she was 7. She obtained her Master of Arts in film-making from the University of Zurich.

All the 10 qualified short movies were viewed for the first round of voting by the Academy’s Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee at Los Angeles screens. Based on the regulations, three to five movies will ultimately be opted as the major finalists at the upcoming Academy Awards. Four cities of Los Angeles, London, New York, and San Francisco will host the branch screenings in December.

Nominees in all 24 categories of the 87th Annual Academy Awards will be announced on January 15, 2015, in Samuel Goldwyn Theater, and the Oscars Ceremony will be held on February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

Iran has officially addressed Reza Mirkarimi’s Today to represent the country this year. A Few Cubic Meters of Love, the Iranian-Afghan film directed by Jamshid Mahmoudi, is also nominated by Afghanistan to compete at the upcoming Academy Awards.