“Sun Children” (خورشید) was the film Iran submitted for the 93rd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. It was one of the 15 shortlisted international feature films announced on February 9, 2021.
A drama film, “Sun Children” is about a teenage boy and his three friends doing small jobs and petty crimes to survive and support their families. Entrusted to find a hidden underground treasure, the boy has to enroll at a charitable institution with his friends to gain access to the tunnel where the treasure is buried.
Written by Majid Majidi and Nima Javidi and directed by Majidi, “Sun Children” is 99 minutes long. Here is the list of its cast members:
- Ali Nassirian
- Javad Ezzati
- Tannaz Tabatabaei
- Rouhollah Zamani
- Shamila Shirzad
- Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Mousavi Fard
- Abolfazl Shirzad
- Mani Ghafouri
- Safar Mohammadi
- Ali Ghabeshi
Including “Sun Children,” 97 films were submitted for the 2021 Oscar Award for Best International Feature Film but only 93 films were accepted. Three countries submitted a film for the first time namely Lesotho, Sudan and Suriname, whose respective entries were “This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection,” “You Will Die at Twenty” and “Wiren.”
After 21 years of not submitting, Bhutan sent “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” but it did not appear on the final list. “Héliopolis” of Algeria also did not make it to the final list while “Persian Lessons” of Belarus and “2000 Songs of Farida” of Uzbekistan were disqualified.
Majority of individuals involved in making “Persian Lessons” are not from Belarus while “2000 Songs of Farida” was not submitted by the deadline of December 1, 2020. Here is the complete list of the 15 shortlisted films:
|
COUNTRY |
FILM | DIRECTOR | WRITER/S |
LANGUAGE/S |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | “Quo Vadis, Aida?” | Jasmila Žbanić | Jasmila Žbanić | Bosnian, English, Croatian, Serbian, Dutch |
| Chile | “The Mole Agent” (El agente topo) | Maite Alberdi | Maite Alberdi | Spanish |
| Côte d’Ivoire | “Night of the Kings” (La Nuit des rois) | Philippe Lacôte | Philippe Lacôte | Dyula, French |
| Czech Republic | “Charlatan” (Šarlatán) | Agnieszka Holland | Marek Epstein | Czech |
| Denmark | “Another Round” (Druk) | Thomas Vinterberg | Thomas Vinterberg, Tobias Lindholm | Danish |
| France | “Two of Us” (Deux) | Filippo Meneghetti | Filippo Meneghetti, Malysone Bovorasmy | French, German |
| Guatemala | “La Llorona” | Jayro Bustamante | Jayro Bustamante, Lisandro Sanchez | Spanish, Mayan-Caqchickel, Mayan-Ixil |
| Hong Kong | “Better Days” (少年的你) | Derek Tsang | Lam Wing Sum, Li Yuan, Xu Yimeng | Mandarin Chinese |
| Iran | “Sun Children” (خورشید) | Majid Majidi | Majid Majidi, Nima Javidi | Persian |
| Mexico | “I’m No Longer Here” (Ya no estoy aquí) | Fernando Frias de la Parra | Fernando Frias de la Parra | Spanish |
| Norway | “Hope” (Håp) | Maria Sødahl | Maria Sødahl | Norwegian, Swedish |
| Romania | “Collective” (Colectiv) | Alexander Nanau | Alexander Nanau, Antoaneta Opriș | Romanian |
| Russia | “Dear Comrades!” (Дорогие товарищи!) | Andrey Konchalovskiy | Andrey Konchalovskiy, Elena Kiseleva | Russian |
| Taiwan | “A Sun” (陽光普照) | Chung Mong-hong | Chung Mong-hong, Chang Yao-sheng | Mandarin Chinese |
| Tunisia | “The Man Who Sold His Skin” (L’Homme qui a vendu sa peau) | Kaouther Ben Hania | Kaouther Ben Hania | Arabic, English, French |
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