“Finding Farideh” is an Oscar hopeful. Co-directed by “From Iran, a Separation” collaborators Azadeh Mousavi and Kourosh Ataee, the documentary has been selected as Iran’s candidate for the International Feature Film Academy Award. Variety confirmed the news.
The doc tells the story of an Iranian woman who was adopted by a Dutch couple as a toddler. Four decades later, she returns to Iran in the hopes of connecting with her biological parents. “Finding Faridah” has screened at fests such as the Zurich Iranian Film Festival and Big Sky Documentary Festival in Montana.
The last woman-directed feature Iran submitted for consideration in the category was for the 92nd Oscars, held in 2018, Narges Abyar’s “Breath.”
Mounia Meddour’s “Papicha” has been named as Algeria’s pick in the International Feature Film Oscar race. Set in the 1990s during the Algerian Civil War, the drama tells the story of girlfriends who make money selling clothes.
Nominees for the 2020 edition of the Oscars will be announced on January 13 and the ceremony is set to take place February 9.
Nadine Labaki’s “Caupernaum” was the sole woman-directed film to receive a foreign-language nod this year. Nadine Labaki’s drama centers on a 12-year-old boy who sues his parents for bringing him into a world of pain and suffering.
