In the above video, starting at the 2:00 mark, Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi accepts the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for A Separation. Alyssa Rosenberg calls it "by far the classiest, most meaningful speech of the evening":
One of the best things art can do is expose who we are, in all our beauty and ugliness, and remind us of what we’re capable of being. And in this case, it was also a brave act. Farhadi’s been wearing a necktie most of this awards season in a subtle rebuke to the Iranian regime’s suggestion that it’s a decadent Western accessory, and tonight, some commentators suggest that his speech could prevent him from returning to Iran or make life uncomfortable for him when he got back there. That’s a real risk for an award that carries less benefit than a Best Actor or Best Director statuette. Farhadi should be an example to politically engaged artists—and to politicians—everywhere.
Recent reviews of A Separation here. The Oscar was a first for an Iranian film:
Farhadi told the Monitor in an interview last month that A Separation, while not overtly political, is an allegory about the responsibility that comes with freedom. "There are those who simply want to live their lives, and feel they cannot live the way they want to in Iran," Farhadi told the Monitor. "Others are ideologically motivated: They will stay not matter what and try to change things." He added: "In a sense, human agency has decreased. The characters are inherently good, but their environment pushes them to fight with one another."
That is why acclaim for A Separation abroad has been a mixed blessing for Tehran's conservative leadership, who since the 1979 Islamic Revolution have railed against the cultural influence of the West, from Barbie dolls to video games.
Iranian state TV is somehow spinning the victory as a defeat over Israel. If only the people of Iran had a government even minimally equal to their own vivacity and brilliance.
The Dish 