In the best foreign-language film category, "The Salesman" an Iranian-French drama film directed by Asghar Farhadi competes with "Tanna" Australian film directed by Martin Butler and Bentley Dean, "Land of Mine" a Danish-German historical drama film directed by Martin Zandvliet , "A Man Called Ove" a Swedish comedy-drama film directed by Hannes Holm, and "Toni Erdmann" German-Austrian comedy-drama film directed and written by Maren Ade.
The Salesman tells the story of a young couple Shahab Hosseini as Emad and Taraneh Alidoosti as Rana who play the lead roles in a local rendition of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman". Meanwhile, their personal relationship takes a hit after moving into a house that was previously inhabited by a woman who allegedly pursued a career in prostitution.
It was included in the In Competition section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, Hosseini won the award for Best Actor and Farhadi won the award for Best Screenplay. Farhadi's movie nominated for the 74th Golden Globe awards too.
Farhadi has previously received a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for his movie "A Separation".
The 89th Academy Awards will be announced the winners in the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26.