In an interview with THR, Ganis discussed his visit to Iran. An AMPAS delegation, including Annette Bening and Alfre Woodard accompanied Ganis to meet with Iranian filmmakers at the invitation of Iran+s House of Cinema.

Asked about the state of Iranian cinema, Ganis said, “It is as buoyant as it is. They are making movies all the time, though they are not distributing them necessarily in Iran, but around Europe, Asia, and winning prizes all the time for it.“  

Bening also said that Iranians are all cinephiles. She appreciated that there is a lot of documentary filmmaking in Iran.

Referring to the status of women in the Iranian film industry, Bening said, “They have a lot of female directors and a lot of documentary female directors. Women are functioning on all levels. We want to facilitate all of the people in Iranian cinema coming to the US, and I think that+s a particularly delicate subject when it comes to actresses.“