Iran’s 'A Separation' gets a leg up on Israel’s 'Footnote' at Oscars

Israel’s delegation to the Academy Awards was disappointed, but not surprised, to lose out to the Iranian film “A Separation” in the Best Foreign Language Film category Sunday night.

“It will be a big surprise if we win,” Shlomo Bar-Aba, one of the stars in “Footnote,” said on Sunday before the ceremony. Lior Ashkenazi, the other lead actor, also sounded doubtful, saying, “It’s pretty clear we’re not going to win. It’s pretty clear who will win. Everything points in the direction of the Iranians.”

Director Asghar Farhadi accepted Iran’s first foreign film Oscar, saying, “I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, the people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment.”

“At this time, many Iranians all over the world are watching us and I imagine them to be very happy,” Farhadi said. “At a time of talk of war, intimidation and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their county, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics.”

“A Separation” was the second Iranian film to be nominated for an Oscar, and the first to win. Iran’s state TV described the win as a victory over Israel, saying “A Separation” had succeeded in “leaving behind” a film from the “Zionist regime.”

Behind the scenes at the Oscars, however, members of the Israeli and Iranian delegations engaged in friendly conversation.

“I was sitting at breakfast and they recognized me from the posters around town,” Bar-Aba said. “They were excited and came to speak with me. I asked them if Iranians are also making a big deal about receiving a nomination. They said their director has nothing to do with the government and the press is hardly reporting on the nomination.”

Bar-Aba said that members of the Iranian delegation had asked him what the Israeli movie was about.

“When I told them, one of them said that we can’t find time to solve conflicts between countries because we are too busy with conflicts within families. How can we reconcile on the bigger level when we aren’t succeeding at the micro level-” Bar-Aba said.

In recent days, Israelis have flocked to check out the Iranian domestic drama. Their interest in “A Separation” was piqued by the rare glimpse it offered into the living rooms of a country they regard as a threat to their very survival.

“It’s very well acted, exceptionally well written and very moving,” said Yair Raveh, film critic for Israel’s leading entertainment magazine, Pnai Plus. “Ultimately you don’t think about nuclear bombs or dictators threatening world peace. You see them driving cars and going to movies and they look exactly like us.”

“A Separation” takes viewers far from the nuclear showdown, chronicling the drama of an Iranian woman who wants to divorce her husband because he refuses to move abroad with her, preferring to stay behind to tend to his ailing father.

For the Israelis the nomination was a big deal, but for Americans the category of best foreign film is one of the least significant.

In all, 63 films were submitted for this year’s foreign language film category. Nominees included “Bullhead,” Michael R. Roskam’s crime drama from Belgium; “Monsieur Lazhar,” Philippe Falardeau’s immigrant teacher tale from Canada, and “In Darkness,” Agnieszka Holland’s World War II drama from Poland.

Bar-Aba also told Israel Hayom that the Oscar hoopla had convinced him even more that he belongs in Israel.

“You have to maintain a sense of perspective because this whole city [Los Angeles] is fictitious. Even the palm trees are fake. It’s like a movie set. I swear, I have no secret desire to make a movie here,” he said. “This place makes me want to do a lot of things in Israel. I am addicted to the Hebrew language. I can only thrive in Hebrew and that is what I plan to do.”

This was director Joseph Cedar’s second time competing for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. His previous attempt, in 2007 with the acclaimed “Beaufort,” lost to Austria’s “The Counterfeiters.”

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