The Iranian film ‘Driving Lessons’ became eligible for the 92nd Academy Awards after having been publicly exhibited for a week at Arena Cinelounge Sunset in Los Angeles.
The film tells the story of Bahareh, a young girl who, according to Iranian law, must have a man from among her relatives accompany her on driving lessons so she and her male instructor won’t be alone.
The film has won the Special Jury Award at the 13th Film Festival for Women's Rights (FIWOM) in South Korea, as well as the award for best short drama at the 13th edition of the I Will Tell International Film Festival in London.
According to the regulations of the Academy Awards, eligibility of short films for Oscar consideration requires either public screening for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in either Los Angeles County or the City of New York, for a run of at least seven consecutive days; or, the film must have won a qualifying award at a competitive film festival; or, the film must have won a Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal award in the Academy’s 2019 Student Academy Awards competition.
Other Iranian shorts eligible for the Oscar nod include ‘Tattoo’, directed by Farhad Delaram, ‘Funfair’ by Kaveh Mazaheri, and ‘Pedovore’ by Mohammad Kart.
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony is slated to be held on February 9, 2020 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
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