TEHRAN, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Winning the Oscar award by Iranian artists proved that a new chapter has opened in the Iranian cinema, Iran's Deputy Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Javad Shamaqdari was quoted as saying Monday by the official IRNA news agency.
Iran's "A Separation" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony held at the Hollywood & Highland Center in downtown Los Angeles, the United States, on Sunday night.
It is the first time that an Iranian film has won the honor in this category. "Children of Heaven" in 1998 was the only other Iranian film which had been nominated in the same category.
Expressing congratulations to the Iranian cinema community, Shamaqdari said that the achievement showed that Iran's cinema has bright prospects ahead.
Victory of Iranian artists to win the internationally-acclaimed award highlighted the grandeur of the Iranian culture and broke Israel's hegemony over the American societies, Shamaqdari was quoted as saying.
He said that the American judgments were obliged to bow to the Iranian culture.
The widely-hailed movie, directed by Asghar Farhadi, also won the best foreign film at the Golden Globes.