Boniadi spotlights Iranian women
“Rings of Power” star Nazanin Boniadi used a gathering of Oscar winners and prominent Hollywood figures to deliver a powerful plea about the need to support female protesters in Iran.
“We owe it to our counterparts in Iran to stand with them as they fight for their most basic human rights,” said Boniadi, referencing the wave of defiance following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police in Tehran who picked her up for wearing her hijab too loosely.
With Oscar winners Chloe Zhao, Marlee Matlin and Ruth E. Carter as well as actors such as Claire
Foy, Tessa Thompson and Lucy Boynton, looking on, Boniadi said she couldn’t “help but feel the urgency of joining in sisterhood with the women of Iran.”
She brought actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi as her guest to the recent event at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Ebrahimi, a well-known TV star who fled Iran after video of her having sex with a former partner was leaked, stars in “Holy Spider.”
Boniadi has a long history of supporting women in Iran, but she said that this moment of protest is also unique.
“No past protests compare in fervor or magnitude to the current protests where, for the first time since the inception of the theocracy, people are actively fighting back to defend themselves against the security forces,” she said. “But the most unprecedented part of these protests is that they’ve been female-led.”
She asked her peers to use their platforms to amplify and elevate the movement and take inspiration from what Alfre Woodard, Danny Glover, Blair Underwood and others did for the antiapartheid movement in 1989.
The event was held to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Academy Gold Fellowship. The yearlong fellowship for emerging filmmakers includes funding as well as mentorship.
Academy President Janet Yang said the organization is “dedicated to nurturing the next generation of filmmakers.”
This year’s recipients are Oleksandra Kostina and Karishma Dube.
‘Love Actually’ cast
reunites for special: A one-hour special will give the cast of “Love Actually” a chance to take fans down memory lane as they discuss making the movie and share stories from behind the scenes.
“The special will look at how the film became a beloved Christmas tradition and a global sensation, with new insight into behind-the-scenes secrets and iconic scenes,” according to a release.
Released in 2003, “Love Actually” is a movie about the complexities of love told through nine intertwined stories.
The cast members returning for the Diane Sawyer special — which will air Tuesday on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu — are Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Bill Nighy, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Olivia Olson and writer-director Richard Curtis.
Nov. 28 birthdays:
Producer Berry Gordy Jr. is 93. Singer Randy Newman is 79. Musician Paul Shaffer is 73. Actor Ed Harris is 72. Director Kathryn Bigelow is 71. Actor S. Epatha Merkerson is 70. Drummer Matt Cameron is 60. Comedian Jon Stewart is 60. Actor Aimee Garcia is 44. Actor Daniel Henney is 43. Actor Bryshere Gray is 29.