Looking for further evidence of America’s legislated xenophobia? Apparently afraid that his films might remind voters that Muslims are humans too, the State Department has denied a visa to Abbas Kiarostami, who was scheduled to present his latest film, Ten, at the New York Film Festival before delivering lectures at Harvard and Ohio University. Kiarostami’s response?
“I certainly do not deserve an entry visa any more than the aging mother hoping to visit her children in the U.S. perhaps for the last time in her life … For my part, I feel this decision is somehow what I deserve.”