Mohammad Rasoulof and Shahrbanoo Sadat have rejected the idea of creating a separate Oscar category for filmmakers living in exile, arguing that such recognition could reinforce the very labels and divisions they would rather move beyond.

The Iranian filmmaker and Iranian-born Afghan director addressed the question at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where the first five shorts backed by Cate Blanchett’s Displacement Film Fund received their Japan premiere. Senior Academy leadership was also present at the festival this week.

The discussion followed the Academy’s recent rule change allowing exiled filmmakers to qualify for the Oscars. While panelists welcomed that decision, Rasoulof and Sadat did not support establishing a dedicated category.

“I really do not like to be labeled, and even this label is displaced,” said Sadat, whose fund-supported short is “Super Afghan Gym.” “I’m not sure if I would love to be in the category of displaced, even if they give me the Oscar.”

Rasoulof, director of the fund-backed “The Sense of Water,” said he wanted to devote his energy to filmmaking rather than distinctions based on where artists are able to live or work.

“If there are certain specific categories, then sometimes those could cause an issue, so I would really like to focus my efforts on closing the distance and being closer,” he said.

A Broader Route to Oscar Recognition

Clare Stewart, managing director of International Film Festival Rotterdam, noted that Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” was among the first films to benefit from the Academy’s eligibility change. The film, which represented Germany, was nominated during the last Oscar cycle.

Stewart questioned what that representation could contribute to the wider conversation about displaced and refugee filmmakers and their place within society. “So I personally don’t feel there’s a need,” she said of a standalone category.

Blanchett, who co-founded the Displacement Film Fund, emphasized that the panel welcomed the Academy’s recognition of the circumstances confronting artists whose careers are interrupted by war, conflict and displacement.

“It sounds like a small thing, but it is very profound,” she said.

The fund’s first group of films has already received an Academy-qualifying screening in Los Angeles. Another screening is scheduled for New York in mid-November, both to support Academy consideration and to bring the shorts to American audiences.

How the Displacement Film Fund Took Shape

The initiative supports filmmakers who have experienced displacement themselves or have an established record of telling authentic stories about it. Its origins date to the UNHCR Global Refugee Forum in December 2023, where Blanchett met Yanai Koji, a director and senior executive officer at Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing. Blanchett has served as a UNHCR goodwill ambassador for more than a decade.

The project accelerated in October 2024 after Stewart discussed IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund with Blanchett. IFFR has operated that fund for 30 years, helping filmmakers in countries with limited infrastructure or politically difficult funding environments.

IFFR agreed to manage the Displacement Film Fund, which launched at the festival in January 2025. Founding partners include Yanai’s production company Mastermind, Uniqlo, the Tama Family Foundation, the Amahoro Coalition and Dutch foundation Droom en Daad. The Spinoza Foundation joined as a main partner at IFFR this year.

The first cohort, announced at Cannes in 2025, consists of Rasoulof, Sadat, Mo Harawe, Hassan Fazili and Maryna Er Gorbach. Their films premiered at IFFR in January and have since screened in London and El Gouna, with São Paulo also included in their festival journey.

Blanchett said the participants were free to choose their subjects and perspectives, with no requirement that their films directly concern displacement.

Personal Stories, Different Approaches

Rasoulof’s “The Sense of Water” follows a migrant facing solitude and the challenge of learning another language. The filmmaker said the story grew from the isolation he experienced after having to flee his hometown and seek refuge overseas three years earlier.

Sadat described “Super Afghan Gym” as an exploration of feeling uncomfortable in “your first and last home: your body.” She was born in Iran to parents who fled the Soviet-Afghan War in 1979, moved to a village in central Afghanistan at 11, and was later evacuated to France and then Germany when Afghanistan collapsed.

The fund contacted Sadat while she was editing “No Good Men.” She ended up taking the lead role in the romantic comedy after its actor withdrew three weeks before filming. The movie opened the Berlin Film Festival and is scheduled for release in Japan next year.

Japanese star Yakusho Koji, a Cannes best actor winner for “Perfect Days” and a participant in Uniqlo’s Peace for All charity T-shirt project, made a surprise appearance at the post-screening conversation. He called “The Sense of Water” a quiet film dealing with love, hardship and deep pain, while saying Sadat’s gym-set short made him smile.

Blanchett closed one exchange with a direct question for Yakusho: “When are we going to work together?”

ShowBiz Take

The filmmakers’ objections draw an important line between access and separation. The Academy’s eligibility change gives exiled artists a route into existing Oscar competition, while a dedicated category could define them primarily through displacement. For Rasoulof and Sadat, the goal is not a special lane but a closer connection to the wider film community.

What Happens Next?

The first cohort will continue its international screenings, including the New York event in mid-November and a stop in São Paulo. A second group of Displacement Film Fund filmmakers is now making its films, extending the initiative beyond its first five shorts.