The Academy Awards Sunday evening was as unbearable as we knew it would be, but one of the more galling moments came during an acceptance speech from the recipient of the Best Foreign Language Film award.  

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi sent a proxy to read a smug speech he had written about why he was not in attendance Sunday evening. You see, the filmmaker takes issue with "inhumane" U.S. immigration laws. Anousheh Ansari accepted the award on Farhadi's behalf and read from his statement: 

"It a great honor to be receiving this valuable award for the second time...  I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the 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 'our enemies' categories creates fear, a deceitful justification for aggression and war."

 According to the Iranian director, filmmakers create empathy, "and empathy we need today now more than ever."

We wonder if Farhadi takes umbrage with the inhumane laws that govern his own home country. We wonder if he's equally "insulted" by the treatment of women, LGBT members, journalists, and people of different faiths in Iran. Does he care about the lack of tolerance that is a hallmark of the Iranian regime? We wonder if Farhadi will, too, boldly lecture members of the Islamic Republican Guard about their need to show more empathy.

When it comes to creating enemies and "justification for aggressive war" we're also curious if Farhadi's take on the Iranian regime's official "Death to Israel" policy and its consistent vows to wipe the Jewish State off the map. We'd love to know the director's take on Iran's nuclear weapons pursuit and its recent missile tests, along with Iran's myriad other provocations. 

We're waiting.