According to a report by Mansour Jahani, an independent international cinema journalist, the selection committee for the Iranian cinema representative to the Academy Awards has unanimously chosen the film "The Night Guardian," directed by Reza Mirkarimi, as the official representative of Iranian cinema at the 2024 Oscar ceremony. This decision was made from among the three finalists.
The committee members responsible for selecting Iran representative for the 96th Academy Awards thoroughly reviewed 42 eligible films, narrowing it down to 15 films in the initial stage. After several rounds of reviews, they selected three films as the final candidates for the upcoming Oscar Academy nomination list. These three films included "Conjugal Visit," directed by Omid Shams, "The Night Guardian" by Reza Mirkarimi, and "The Town" by Ali Hazrati. Ultimately, the selection committee decided to honor all the reviewed works, and one of these three films will represent Iranian cinema at the 2024 Academy Awards.
The vice president of international affairs at the Farabi Cinema Foundation, while emphasizing the value of all the films considered, announced that, after careful consideration, the committee members unanimously selected "The Night Guardian," directed by Reza Mirkarimi, as the official representative of Iranian cinema for the 2024 Academy Awards. Iran will be represented at the 2024 Oscars.
"The Night Guardian" is the 29th film to represent Iranian cinema and compete at the 96th Academy Awards, which will take place in 2024.
The founding members of the selection committee for the Iranian cinema representative to the 2024 Oscar Academy included Manoochehr Shahsavari, Rasoul Sadrameli, Alireza Hosseini, Ahmad Muradpour, Mohammad Dawoodi, Akbar Nabovi, Parviz Sheikhtadi, Behrooz Shoaibi, and Raed Faridzadeh (the committee secretary).