Iran has selected labor drama Sun Children for the 2021 Oscars. It will represent the country under the Best International Feature category.
Variety reported that Iran had submitted Sun Children as its official Oscars entry in the International Feature section. The movie’s director is Majid Majidi. It’s his sixth work to enter the Academy Awards.
The delegation of the representative of Iranian cinema to the Oscar ceremony announced the news on Sunday. The committee had screened 90 films, after which it shortlisted 12 entries. Then the final decision eventually came out.
Several other capable Iranian movies screened were Walnut Tree, Yalda: A Night for Forgiveness, and Careless Crime.
Sun Children movie’s plot details
Majid Majidi’s childhood labor drama first premiered at the 77th Venice Film Festival in September. The film’s lead, Ruhollah Zamani, was also named the best young actor at the Italian festival. He received the Marcello Mastroianni Award, and the director won the Lanterna Magica award.
Sun Children revolves around a group of kids who opt for education at a community organization. However, they use this opportunity to pull off a heist. The story reflects the problem of child labor, inequality, and deficiencies of Iran’s school system.
Most of the cast on this project included non-professional actors to relate with the audience realistically.
An Afghan migrant youth, Shamila Shirzad, was also in the film. She played the sister of actor Zamani’s character Ali.
Speaking of Iran’s history with the Academy awards, then it has been consistent in the submissions. Previously, Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation and The Salesman won in the Best Foreign-language category.
Interestingly, Majid Majidi’s Children of Heaven was also nominated in 1998’s event. But he could not win that time. He will hope to grab the trophy in 2021, no matter what eventually. But the rest of the potential nominees will also present a difficult challenge.
2021 Oscars early contenders and entries
Right now, the race is getting tough for next year’s Academy awards ceremony. South Korea, Japan, and Canada recently submitted their entries in the Best International Feature section.
While The Man Standing Next will represent South Korea, True Mothers, and Funny Boy will compete for Japan and Canada, respectively.
Nomadland from Searchlight Pictures, The Trial of Chicago 7, and Mank from Netflix are also rumored for the race. Early predictions also include movies One Night in Miami from Amazon Studios and The Father from Sony Pictures Classic.
Back to Iran and its contentions to win next year, Sun Children looks very promising to achieve its aspirations.
Image courtesy of James Kirkikis/YouTube Screenshot