The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced 366 eligible movies to compete at the 93rd edition of the Oscars, with the Iranian documentary ‘Coup 53’ being among them.
Taqi Amirani’s film, a joint production of Iran, the UK and the US, was selected as an eligible candidate to run for the Best Picture award at this year’s edition of the Oscars, ifilmtv.com reported.
Oscar-winning film editor Walter Murch and Amirani have jointly written the script for the documentary.
‘Coup 53’ is about the 1953 US-led coup against the government of then democratically-elected Iranian prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddeq.
According to deadline.com, the total number of films for the 93rd edition is up from last year’s 344 films in contention.
This year’s list was compiled based on tweaked eligibility rules implemented because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has pushed the ceremony to its latest date ever. For this year, feature films had to open by February 28 in a commercial motion picture theater for a seven-day qualifying run in at least one of six metro areas: Los Angeles County, New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Miami, and Atlanta. Drive-in theaters open nightly were included as qualifying venues, as were films intended for theatrical release but because of the lockdown made available first via streaming, VOD service, or other broadcasts.
The news comes after the Academy on February 9 dropped its shortlists in the International Film, Documentary Feature, Original Score, Original Song, Makeup & Hairstyling, Visual Effects, and the Live-Action, Documentary, and Animated Shorts categories.
With the list finalized, Academy voting will run March 5-10, with nominations to be announced March 15.
Source: Iran Daily