Press Play with Madeleine Brand
New visa rules make it tougher for foreign filmmakers to get into the US
The Sundance film festival just ended, and the Oscars are coming up this Sunday. Filmmakers from across the world have been traveling to the U.S. to promote their films and hit the awards circuit.
By Madeleine Brand • • 1 min readThe Sundance film festival just ended, and the Oscars are coming up this Sunday. Filmmakers from across the world have been traveling to the U.S. to promote their films and hit the awards circuit. But new visa requirements and President Trump’s travel ban have made it difficult. Foreign documentary filmmakers have to provide five years worth of social media to State Department workers.
Feras Fayyad, the Syrian director of the Oscar-nominated documentary “The Cave,” only got to the country last week after being denied a visa.
The Iranian drama “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness” screened at Sundance without its director Massoud Bakshi. It won a major Grand Jury Prize.
The International Documentary Association is suing the State Department over its new visa requirement. We hear from executive director Simon Kilmurry.
