Magic Lantern to screen Iranian film on Friday

Even art isn't immune to political maneuvering. Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, whose 2011 film "A Separation" won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, won't be allowed to attend the Feb. 26 2017 Oscar ceremonies.

The reason? The recent presidential executive order that prevents residents of Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen from entering the United States.

This isn't the best place to get into the politics of all this. I will say, though, that I'm just thankful the ban doesn't apply to Farhadi's films, the latest of which — "The Salesman" — opens at the Magic Lantern on Friday.

Having garnered at 98 percent approval rating on the film-review site Rotten Tomatoes, in addition to an Oscar nomination of its own, Farhadi's film is attracting rave reviews. Here are just a few:

David Edelstein, New York Magazine: "It's another of the director's analytical but deeply empathetic films about modern Iranian society and what separates men from women and the government from its people."

A.O. Scott, New York Times: "With exquisite patience and attention to detail, Asghar Farhadi, the writer and director, builds a solid and suspenseful plot out of ordinary incidents, and packs it with rich and resonant ideas."

Dana Stevens, Slate: "The two storylines interweave seamlessly and subtly, the couple's real-life problems not so much repeating as refracting the experiences of their fictional counterparts."

Art is art. Supporting it is the obligation of us all.