US musician Rhiannon Giddens performs "American railroad" onstage with the Silkroad ensemble at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in Brooklyn, New York City on November 23, 2024. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

US musician Rhiannon Giddens performs "American railroad" onstage with the Silkroad ensemble at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in Brooklyn, New York City on November 23, 2024. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

US musician Rhiannon Giddens performs "American railroad" onstage with the Silkroad ensemble at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) in Brooklyn, New York City on November 23, 2024. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

FILE - Sen. Fred R. Harris (D-Okla.), holds a copy of the report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders as he and two other members of the commission discuss the study on the television-radio program "Issues and Answers," in Washington, March 3, 1968. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File)

(FILES) Iranian director and producer Mohammad Rasoulof delivers a speech on stage after he was awarded with a Special Jury Prize for the film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" during the Closing Ceremony at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 25, 2024. Forced to flee Iran, dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof says it is bittersweet that his latest movie will contend at the Oscars -- under the banner of another country. "The Seed of the Sacred Fig," a paranoid thriller that was shot in secret and depicts a family torn apart by Iran's brutally repressive politics, has earned rave reviews and won many festival prizes, including at Cannes. But each country can submit just one movie for the best international film Oscar, and in authoritarian countries like Iran, that choice of film is made by state-controlled organizations. "Of course, it is unimaginable that the Islamic Republic could have submitted a film like this for the Academy Awards," Rasoulof told AFP. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP) (Photo by VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)

(FILES) (FromL) Iranian actress Setareh Maleki, Iranian director and producer Mohammad Rasoulof and hold Iranian actress Mahsa Rostami portraits of Iranian actor Missagh Zareh (R) and Iranian actress Soheila Golestani as they pose during a photocall for the film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 25, 2024. Forced to flee Iran, dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof says it is bittersweet that his latest movie will contend at the Oscars -- under the banner of another country. "The Seed of the Sacred Fig," a paranoid thriller that was shot in secret and depicts a family torn apart by Iran's brutally repressive politics, has earned rave reviews and won many festival prizes, including at Cannes. But each country can submit just one movie for the best international film Oscar, and in authoritarian countries like Iran, that choice of film is made by state-controlled organizations. "Of course, it is unimaginable that the Islamic Republic could have submitted a film like this for the Academy Awards," Rasoulof told AFP. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP) (Photo by VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)

(FILES) Iranian director and producer Mohammad Rasoulof poses during a photocall after he won the a Special Jury Prize for the film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" during the Closing Ceremony at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 25, 2024. Forced to flee Iran, dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof says it is bittersweet that his latest movie will contend at the Oscars -- under the banner of another country. "The Seed of the Sacred Fig," a paranoid thriller that was shot in secret and depicts a family torn apart by Iran's brutally repressive politics, has earned rave reviews and won many festival prizes, including at Cannes. But each country can submit just one movie for the best international film Oscar, and in authoritarian countries like Iran, that choice of film is made by state-controlled organizations. "Of course, it is unimaginable that the Islamic Republic could have submitted a film like this for the Academy Awards," Rasoulof told AFP. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE / AFP) (Photo by LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)

(FILES) Iranian director and producer Mohammad Rasoulof delivers a speech on stage after he was awarded with a Special Jury Prize for the film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" during the Closing Ceremony at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 25, 2024. Forced to flee Iran, dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof says it is bittersweet that his latest movie will contend at the Oscars -- under the banner of another country. "The Seed of the Sacred Fig," a paranoid thriller that was shot in secret and depicts a family torn apart by Iran's brutally repressive politics, has earned rave reviews and won many festival prizes, including at Cannes. But each country can submit just one movie for the best international film Oscar, and in authoritarian countries like Iran, that choice of film is made by state-controlled organizations. "Of course, it is unimaginable that the Islamic Republic could have submitted a film like this for the Academy Awards," Rasoulof told AFP. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP) (Photo by VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)