Academy invites eight Iranian cineastes for 2017 membership

TEHRAN.(Iranart) - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has picked eight Iranian cineastes to join its membership this year.

The academy released the list of invitees with 774 new members from 57 countries this year, a new record for invitees in a single year, the organization has announced via an official release.

Filmmakers Rakhshan Bani-Etemad and Bahman Qobadi are seen in the writers’ branch, while Leila Hatami and Golshifteh Farahani are listed in the actors’ branch.

Other Iranian invitees include director Mohammad Rasoluf, film editor Hayedeh Safiyari, sound engineer Mohammadreza Delpak and producer Hengameh Panahi.

Legendary filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami was among the list of the invitees last year.

The list reveals the academy’s effort to continue to diversify, illustrating the big push to add women and people of color to its organization.

The academy has been under pressure to diversify its membership for several years.

This year’s class, 39 percent of which is comprised of women, reflects a 359 percent jump, from 2015 to 2017, in the number of women invited to join the Academy. 

People of color make up 30 percent of the 744 members added, a group that includes Barry Jenkins, whose film “Moonlight” won Best Picture at the 2017 ceremony, Janelle Monáe, who appeared in “Moonlight” and the Oscar-nominated “Hidden Figures”, and Jordan Peele, whose film “Get Out” has been one of 2017’s biggest commercial and critical hits.