Iranian movie “The Black Rabbits, The White Rabbits” to represent Tajikistan at the Academy Awards

“Black Rabbit, White Rabbit” has been selected as the official representative of Tajikistan at the 2026 Academy Awards. It is a detective story made by Iranian director Shahram Mokri. The movie has also won the Prize for Asia’s Future at the Busan International Film Festival.
The Black Rabbit, The White Rabbit will also be screened at the London International Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival, continuing its international presence at global events.
The movie is a joint production by Iran, Tajikistan, and the UAE and was made in support of Tajik Film in Tajikistan. The movie is produced in both Persian and Tajik languages, and a number of Iranian actors, including Babak Karimi, star in it. The scenario of the movie was written jointly by Shahram Mokri and Nasim Ahmadpour.
In the summary of the movie, one reads: “A doubt-causing cinematic instrument, a mysterious actor audition, a road plot, and a number of rabbits have been linked in this alluring and brave drama. A cinema crew thinks that a fake gun is real. An actor comes to the stage and wants to play a role. The victim of an accident doubts whether the accident was purposeful. Three stories that seem to be separate on the surface have been intertwined in a mysterious manner.”
The Black Rabbit, The White Rabbit is Tajikistan’s 4th film introduced to the Academy Awards. The Central Asian country has not yet received an Oscar.
The Black Rabbit, The White Rabbit is the 4th long feature by Shahram Mokri. His first movie was Fish and Cat in 2013, which gained the Special Award at the Venice Film Festival. The Academy Awards ceremony will be held on March 15 in Los Angeles.
With the introduction of Shahram Mokri’s movie, the number of Iranian works at the Academy Awards for the current year has reached 4.
Iran will participate in the event with the film The Reason of Death: Unknown by Ali Zarnegar. France has introduced A Simple Accident by Jafar Panahi as its representative. Alireza Khatami’s movie The Things You Kill will participate in the event as the representative of Canada.