Nominee reaction: Asghar Farhadi

"A Separation" helmer and scribe Asghar Farhadi was extremely surprised that his film broke through the language barrier and nabbed a nom for original screenplay, as well as a bid for foreign-language film. "I was so happy to receive the nomination for the best original screenplay because this film is in Farsi and the fact that it received that nomination is a great honor and surprise," he said. "For a long time I had this picture carved inside my head. I don't know how it got there, but once it was there I just knew I had to make this film and here we are today with not one but two nominations." Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com