The Atlantic:

... To get a better sense of the cultural and geopolitical context of Farhadi’s recognition by the Oscars and his eventual boycott, I spoke with Hamid Naficy, a professor at Northwestern University’s School of Communication and the author of several books on Iranian culture and media, including A Social History of Iranian Cinema. Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Lenika Cruz: What sorts of issues do you think Farhadi’s absence brings to light?

Hamid Naficy: What’s interesting here is the tactic that Farhadi and The Salesman actress, Taraneh Alidoosti, chose. In some ways, you could say that if they had come, or if they had been willing to come to the Oscars, they would have had a fantastic platform, and whatever they would say in opposition to Trump’s executive order would get a lot of publicity. On the other hand, that platform would depend on them winning an award—like Meryl Streep’s speech at the Golden Globes. The boycott is probably a better strategy, because at least this way they will get some press.

Cruz: Can you describe the cultural exchange between the U.S. and Iran in recent years, and how that relationship might change moving forward?

Naficy: It’s important to realize there are different partners in this cultural relationship between the U.S. and Iran. The players as I see it are: the U.S. government and the U.S. commercial media; the Iranian government and its media; the Iranian internal public and dissidents and their media; and lastly, the Iranian diasporic population and their media...

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