Entertainment · Film · 2 hrs ago
Filmmakers Reject Separate Oscar Category for Exiled Artists
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof and director Shahrbanoo Sadat opposed a separate Oscar category for exiled filmmakers at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Their comments came as the fund’s first five short films screened in Tokyo, including Sadat’s “Super Afghan Gym” and Rasoulof’s “The Sense of Water.”
The Academy recently changed its rules to make exiled filmmakers eligible for the Oscars.
Sadat said she did not want displacement to define her, while Rasoulof said he wanted to focus on making films and bringing people closer.
Cate Blanchett’s Displacement Film Fund supports filmmakers affected by displacement and aims to bring their stories to wider audiences.
The fund was created to back filmmakers who have experienced displacement or have a record of telling authentic stories about it.
The films are due to screen in New York in mid-November, after an Academy qualifying screening in Los Angeles.
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof and Iranian-born Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat opposed creating a separate Oscar category for exiled filmmakers.
They spoke at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where the first five short films from Cate Blanchett’s Displacement Film Fund screened.
Sadat said she did not want to be defined by displacement, while Rasoulof said separate categories could cause problems.
The Academy recently changed its rules to make exiled filmmakers eligible for the Oscars.
Blanchett welcomed the rule change, saying it recognizes the circumstances artists face when displaced.
- Who
- Iranian filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Shahrbanoo Sadat, and fund co-founder Cate Blanchett.
- What
- Rasoulof and Sadat pushed back on a separate Oscar category for exiled filmmakers as the fund’s first five shorts screened.
- When
- October 30, 2026.
- Where
- Tokyo International Film Festival, Tokyo.
- Why
- They objected to defining filmmakers by displacement; Rasoulof said separate categories could cause problems.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The fund took shape at the UNHCR’s Global Refugee Forum, where Blanchett met Fast Retailing executive Yanai Koji.
Blanchett launched the Displacement Film Fund.
The fund’s first five short films screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where Sadat and Rasoulof spoke against a separate Oscar category.
- First cohort
- Five short films
- Tokyo screening
- Tokyo International Film Festival
- Sadat’s film
- Super Afghan Gym
- Rasoulof’s film
- The Sense of Water
- Fund management partner
- Rotterdam Film Festival’s Hubert Bals Fund
2 sources
Mohammad Rasoulof, Shahrbanoo Sadat Push Back on Idea of Separate Oscar Category for Exiled Filmmakers as Cate Blanchett’s Displacement Film Fund Hits Tokyo
Cate Blanchett, Shahrbanoo Sadat & Mohammad Rasoulof Bring Displacement Film Fund To Tokyo With Help From ‘Godzilla’ Filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki
What people are saying
I really do not like to be labeled, and even this label is displaced, you know, because I’m not seeing myself like I’m Shahrbanoo Sadat, the displaced filmmaker. This is funny, this is a joke to me
If there are certain specific categories, then sometimes those could cause an issue, so I would really like to focus my efforts on closing the distance and being closer
There’s so many wars and conflicts, and people displaced through no fault of their own, and often careers, artistic careers are interrupted. So the fact that the Academy is recognizing that, I think is, it sounds like a small thing, but it is very profound
These filmmakers happen to be displaced, but that is not the defining characteristic of their work