British film industry to protest Donald Trump travel ban using Asghar Farhadi's Oscar-nominated film

Signatories include Sir Ridley Scott, Kiera Knightley and Mike Leigh

British filmmaking and acting talent are attempting to screen the Oscar-nominated film of the director affected by Donald Trump's Muslim ban in London in protest of the President's ruling on Oscars night.

Leading names from the film industry have written to the Duke of Westminster seeking permission to hold a screening of Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman outside the US embassy in Grosvenor Square on 26 February.

Sir Ridley Scott, Kiera Knightley, Glenn Close, Mike Leigh and Clio Barnard are just some of the names to have signed the letter that's been released by The Guardian.

The letter is just another way in which the world has reacted to Trump's ruling that refugees and visa holders from seven predominantly Muslim countries will be unable to enter the country for four months.

Farhadi's film The Salesman is nominated in the Foreign Language category alongside Land of Mine (Denmark), Toni Erdmann (Germany), A Man Called Ove (Sweden) and Tanna (Australia). The film follows a high school teacher (Shahab Hosseini) who seeks revenge against the perpetrator who attacked his wife (Taraneh Alidoosti) in their apartment.

The director made awards history in 2012 when his film A Separation became the first Iranian film to win an Oscar.

Other signatories include Dominic West, Lily Cole and directors Anton Corbijn, Andrea Arnold and Kevin McDonald.

Joanna Natasegara, the producer of Oscar-nominated documentary The White Helmets, has also signed the letter. It was revealed this week that Natasegara was intending to bring the titular anti-Assad political organisation's leader Raed Saleh to the ceremony - as well as cinematographer Khaled Khateeb - but will be unable to due to Trump's ban.