Here at Best For Film we are loathe to make any kind socio-political commentary because, let’s face it, it’s a lot more fun to devise drinking games based on wanking. But the news that Iran has decided to withdraw its support from the 2013 Oscars in light of the controversy surrounding a badly made film said to poke fun at Prophet Muhammad has us rolling our eyes to the point of migraine.

Iran’s culture minister Mohammed Hosseini has confirmed that Iran will not submit an entry for next year’s Oscars, despite the fact that Iranian divorce drama A Separation won the country its first ever Oscar for Best Foreign Film in February. Hosseini further confirmed reports that the committee responsible for selecting Iran’s Oscar candidate had already picked comedy A Cube of Sugar as their offering for Best Foreign Film consideration, when the decision was made to boycott the ceremony altogether.

Ok, we get it. The film is in the worst possible taste and there can be no argument that Innocence of Muslims is needlessly inflammatory. But we can’t help wondering if anyone fully appreciates the extent to which this film just does not matter in the relative scheme of things. Is this low-budget poorly acted affair that makes The Room look like Citizen Kane really worth stunting the growth of the Iranian film industry which was sparked by its first Oscar win earlier this year? At present Hosseini is urging other Islamic countries to follow suit and with both Egypt and Lebanon yet to submit candidates for Oscar consideration, this could very well be the start of a worrying trend.

What do you think? Is a boycott justified?