electronic Global Trade Credit Platform/eGTCP's Blog: Trump Should Feel Sorry for Cancelling Oscars UTA

We're now less than a month out from the 2017 Academy Awards, and it's time to start locking in your final predictions. But United Talent Agency has canceled its annual Academy Awards party and will instead donate $250,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union and the International Rescue Committee, and hold a rally “to express the creative community’s growing concern with anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States.”

image credit: internet

there are always reasons to be cynical about awards season, a period in which the movie industry essentially spends two to three months patting itself on the back. Sometimes, Hollywood gets it right. UTA has cancelled this year's event in protest against Donald Trump's recent travel ban, which barred all refugees and visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States.

In lieu of its party, Variety reports, UTA will donate $250,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union and the International Rescue Committee. The agency will also hold a rally "to express the creative community's growing concern with anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States" and fight against "the potential chilling effect on the global exchange of ideas and freedom of expression".

image credit: internet

UTA represents the Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose latest film The Salesman is nominated in the Best Foreign Film category this year. Following the ban, Farhadi told The New York Times that he would not attend this year's Oscars ceremony, even if an exception were made for him – Iran is one of the seven countries named in Trump's executive order.

In the wake of Farhadi's decision, some critics have called for this year's Oscars to be canceled altogether, with Vox's Todd VanDerWerff arguing that making a historical stand against Trump's ban is important "for an industry built by immigrants and refugees". While a cancellation is unlikely to happen, UTA is setting a powerful precedent by putting its party money and time to more productive use, and it'll be interesting to see whether other organizers follow suit.

This is already shaping up to be the most politically charged awards season in history, with many winners at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards using their platform to speak out against President Trump, his administration and his policies. The Oscars is likely to be no exception.

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