Iranian Director to Skip Oscars Over Trump's Travel Ban

According to The Hollywood Reporter,Farhadi became the first Iranian to win an Oscar, for his 2011 film, 'A Separation.' Asghar Farhadi, an acclaimed director whose film, 'The Salesman,' was nominated for best foreign-language film.
An Oscar-nominated Iranian director said Sunday he will not attend this year's Academy Awards because of a travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump. Asghar Farhadi, an acclaimed director whose film, The Salesman, was nominated for best foreign language film, said the uncertainty surrounding his ability to travel to the United States was "in no way acceptable," and that he would not attend next month's ceremony even if an exception to the ban were possible. An executive order issued last week temporarily bans the entry of citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. The administration says it is necessary to keep out potential terrorists while stricter vetting procedures are put in place. Farhadi became the first Iranian to win an Oscar, for his 2011 film, A Separation.
He said he had initially hoped to attend the awards and express his opinions in the press surrounding the event."However, it now seems that the possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip," he said. Hollywood Reacts With Outrage and Disgust Over Trump's Immigration Ban He compared "hard-liners" in the United States to those in his own country, saying both "have tried to present to their people unrealistic and fearful images of various nations and cultures in order to turn their differences into disagreements, their disagreements into enmities and their enmities into fears."