The Melancholic Speech by Oscar Winners from Iran
This year, the Oscar for animated short film went to “In the Shadow of the Cypress,” a wordless 20-minute animated film from married Iranian directors Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi. The film explores a father’s post-traumatic stress disorder—representing the difficulties of war veterans in Iran—and its impact on his daughter in their house by the sea.
After presenters Andrew Garfield and Goldie Hawn announced near the beginning of the telecast that the director-producer pair had won the category, Molayemi and Sohani took the stage to express their excitement over winning the award, with Molayemi telling the crowd that, amid arriving in Los Angeles mere hours before the show, that the artists are "not native English speakers" and might have trouble getting through their speech.
Winners Sohani and Molayemi traded a phone with an acceptance speech written in English, not their native language. The two had trouble getting a visa and only received it the day before the Academy Awards ceremony. “We were so totally disappointed,” said Sohani, “and now we are here.” The two had walked off the plane in Los Angeles three hours before the ceremony.
"Actually, we hadn't obtained our visa until yesterday, and we were totally disappointed. So disappointed. And now we are here!" Sohani said, later taking a cell phone from Molayemi to read a prepared speech from it. "We're going to dedicate our... oh my God, it's your turn," she said, handing the phone back to Molayemi, who advised, "This is your turn, but this is the first paragraph" and gave the device back to his collaborator.
"Just the fact that we managed to make the film under extraordinary circumstances of our country is a miracle. And yes, if we persevere and remain faithful, miracles do happen," Sohani said, prompting Molayemi, who was watching over her shoulder, to reach over and snatch the phone from her hand while she spoke.
"No, no, no. Let me read it myself," Molayemi said, before proceeding to read virtually the exact same words Sohani had spoken moments prior. "Until yesterday, we hadn't even obtained our visa and we were totally disappointed, and now we are standing here with this statuette in our hands. Also, just the fact that we managed to make this film under the extraordinary circumstances of our country is a miracle. Yes, if we persevere and remain faithful, miracles do happen. We're going to dedicate our film and this precious award to all those who are still fighting in the inner and outer battles, heroically, and nobody knows about that. Especially to all fellow Iranians who are suffering."
Molayemi has shared with reporters that one of their biggest challenges was making money to make it because Iranians are living in a country under heavy sanctions, and the directors had to manage their resources very carefully. he says a lot of our animators had emigrated from Iran, because of these sanctions. Also, a lot of animators who are still living in Iran, have left their professional job since they cannot make a living. Some are suffering with depression, and they are no longer able to make a piece of art since their energy is so low.
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