LONDON – London’s mayor says the British capital will hold a free outdoor screening of an Academy Award-nominated Iranian film whose director scrapped plans to attend the Oscars because of President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said Tuesday that Asghar Farhadi’s “The Salesman” will play in Trafalgar Square on Oscars day, Feb. 26, to celebrate London “as an international hub of creativity and as a beacon of diversity.”
“The Salesman” is nominated for best foreign-language film.
After Trump temporarily barred citizens of Iran and six other majority Muslim nations last month, Farhadi said he would not attend the ceremony even if an exception were made. The ban has since been suspended by U.S. courts.
Farhadi calls the London screening “a symbol of unity against the division and separation of people.”