How This Iranian Director Delivered a Powerful Oscars Speech Even Though He Wasn't There

Updated on 2/27/2017 at 2:28 PM

This year's Academy Awards were ripe with opportunity for political activism, but nobody made a more dramatic statement than Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi, who said it all even though he skipped the show completely. Following Donald Trump's executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, the Iranian director of The Salesman opted out of receiving his Oscar for the Best Foreign Language Film in person. Instead, he issued a powerful statement about his reasoning via Iranian astronaut Anousheh Ansari.

Here's a transcript:

"It's a great honor to be receiving this valuable award for the second time. I would like to thank the members of the Academy, my crew in Iran, my producer Alexandre Mallet-Guy, Cohen Media, Amazon, and my fellow nominees for the foreign film category.

I'm sorry I'm not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for people of my country and those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S. Dividing the world into the us and the enemy categories creates fear; a deceitful justification for regression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries in which have themselves have been victims of aggression.

Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others. An empathy we need today more than ever."

Farhadi had previously told The New York Times that he would skip the ceremony following Trump's order due to fears and concerns about traveling to the United States, despite his great desire to attend the event and use it as a political platform.

However, his absence and inspiring speech had precisely the political effect that Farhadi could have hoped, gaining major traction on social media.

Goosebumps. Asghar Farhadi is a true leader. #oscars2017

— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) February 27, 2017

We can't wait to see what President Trump will have to say about this pointed act of protest, especially considering how vocal he's been about the Oscars in the past.