The Iranian animated short film In the Shadow of the Cypress was one of the films nominated for Best Animated Short at the 2025 Oscars. In this interview with Borrowing Tape, the husband-and-wife director duo Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohai break down the short's commentary on real-life PTSD among war veterans in Iran, the significance of the titular cypress tree and the daily struggles of making it big as an Iranian animator and director.

Interviewer: Shaurya Thapa