‘In The Shadow Of The Cypress’ Filmmakers Can’t Leave Iran, Which Hurts Their Oscar Chances

What do you do if you’re fortunate enough to be nominated for the Oscar for best animated short? In decades past, you’d just wait until the Academy Awards ceremony to find out if you’d won. That’s no longer the case however.

In recent years, the animated short category has turned highly competitive with extensive campaigning by filmmakers to help influence Academy voters. Filmmakers participate in all types of events, as well as studio visits, in an attempt to connect with as many Academy voters as possible.

But what if you aren’t allowed to travel? That’s the situation faced by Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani, the Iranian filmmakers of In the Shadow of the Cypress, who have been forced to watch everything happen from thousands of miles away.

Their film, which poetically tackles heavy subject matter like PTSD, premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won numerous prizes prior to its Oscar nomination. It marks the second year in a row that an Iranian animated short has contended for the Academy Award, following last year’s nomination for Yegane Moghaddam’s Our Uniform.

In a post on Instagram, Molayemi shared their unfortunate situation and explained why geopolitical challenges have made it impossible to participate in most Oscar campaigning events. He wrote:

Due to political issues, the absence of a U.S. embassy in Iran, lack of diplomatic relations, the low credibility of our passports, and sanctions — along with problems like blocked U.S. embassy websites for Iranians and difficulties with money transfers — despite our extensive efforts, we have not been able to schedule an interview at a U.S. embassy in a third country yet. The situation has become more complicated since President Trump’s time in office.

He further pointed out that no governmental or non-governmental organization in Iran has provided any financial assistance, which has further limited their ability to promote the film to Academy voters.

Molayemi said that he’s speaking out about the situation for the historical record so “that perhaps our successors in important international competitions will not be left alone.”

It is not known whether Molayemi or Sohani will be able to attend the Oscar ceremony next month.

Final voting for the Oscars ends tomorrow at 5pm Pacific time. The 97th Oscars will be presented on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.