All six directors up for this year’s prize – including Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who is boycotting the ceremony – have issued a statement blaming ‘leading politicians’ for inciting fear and bigotry across the world

The six directors in the running for this year’s foreign language Oscar have issued a joint statement blaming “leading politicians” for the fear they feel is creating “divisive walls”.

The statement, which was issued on Friday, comes ahead of Sunday’s Academy Awards, which are tipped to be the most political in recent memory, with winners and presenters expected to speak out against the new US administration.

In their letter, the six condemn “the climate of fanaticism and nationalism we see today in the US and in so many other countries, in parts of the population and, most unfortunately of all, among leading politicians”.

The statement is signed by Asghar Farhadi, the director of Iran’s The Salesman, Martin Zandvliet, director of Denmark’s Land of Mine, Hannes Holm, director of Sweden’s A Man Called Ove, Maren Ade, director of Germany’s Toni Erdmann and Martin Butler and Bentley Dean, joint directors of Australia’s Tanna.

Farhadi, who became the first Iranian to win an Oscar in 2012 for his film A Separation, has already said he will boycott the ceremony in protest against Donald Trump’s attempts to enforce a travel ban which would exclude from the US people from seven Muslim-majority countries.

A free screening of Farhadi’s film, The Salesman, will take place in Trafalgar Square in London on Sunday, introduced by the capital’s mayor Sadiq Khan. It is now considered favourite to take the Oscar, with many Academy members believed keen to express their own disapproval of Donald Trump’s measures through a protest vote.

Until earlier this year, Germany’s Toni Erdmann – a father/daughter comedy which is being remade in the US with Jack Nicholson and Kristen Wiig – had been tipped for the win.

The statement continued: “The fear generated by dividing us into genders, colours, religions and sexualities as a means to justify violence destroys the things that we depend on – not only as artists but as humans: the diversity of cultures, the chance to be enriched by something seemingly “foreign” and the belief that human encounters can change us for the better. These divisive walls prevent people from experiencing something simple but fundamental: from discovering that we are all not so different.”

Regardless of who wins, wrote the directors, “[w]e believe there is no best country, best gender, best religion or best colour. We want this award to stand as a symbol of unity between nations and the freedom of the arts.”

The 89th Academy Awards take place in Los Angeles on Sunday.

The complete statement: