London to host free premiere of Iranian movie

London mayor to screen Iranian film in Trafalgar Square on Oscar Night.

An Oscar-nominated Iranian movie is being screened in London on the same night as the Academy Award ceremony which the film's director is boycotting in protest over America's recently-suspended travel ban.

A free outdoor showing of Asghar Farhadi’s The Salesman, which is nominated for Best Foreign Film, is scheduled for Trafalgar Square on 26 February, thanks to an initiative backed by the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

The London mayor describes the screening as a “celebration of London as an international hub of creativity and as a global beacon of openness and diversity.” Farhadi's attendance has yet to be confirmed however he has hailed the London event as "a symbol of unity against the division and separation of people".

Trump’s executive order, since suspended by US courts, banned refugees and citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – from entering the US.

Farhadi's film tells the tale of a couple whose relationship begins to turn sour during their performance of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.

In 2012 Farhadi became the first Iranian to win an Oscar for his film A Separation.