On Monday, Iranprevented filmmaker Mojtaba Mirtahmasb from boarding a flight to Paris in order to attend the Toronto film festival, where his documentary about the detained filmmaker Jafar Panahi will be shown. The film shows a day in the life of Panahi, who is currently serving a six-year prison sentence for a film he made about the unrest in Iran following the disputed election in 2009.
Index on Censorship calls on Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, head of the judiciary in Iran, to overturn the sentences handed down this week to the film directors Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof. Jafar Panahi was sentenced this week to six years in prison for “colluding in the gathering and making of propaganda against the regime”. He is also banned from making films, writing scripts, travelling abroad and talking to the media for 20 years. Mohammad Rasoulof also received a prison sentence of six years.
In a letter to Ayatollah Larijani, Index on Censorship’s chief executive John Kampfner says:
We would like to remind you that Iran’s own constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, the essential condition for any artist to engage in their work and enjoy the freedom to create. We therefore ask you to guarantee this most fundamental of human rights to Mr Panahi, Mr Rasoulof and all artists, academics and journalists currently facing similar sentences.
Index on Censorship urges the Iranian government to recognise Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof as ambassadors for Iran’s creative culture, instead of treating them as criminals. “The Islamic Republic’s continuing crackdown on artists, journalists and writers can only harm the future of its people,” writes John Kampfner in his letter.
Jafar Panahi is amongst Iran’s leading film directors. His first film The White Balloon won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes film festival in 1995 and he was awarded the Golden Lion in 2000 for his film The Circle.
Speaking in support of Jafar Panahi, documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto says:
Jafar Panahi has been an inspiration for me and my friends for many years. His poetic, sensitive and gripping films tell complex stories with well-rounded characters that he treats with great affection and respect. His films never tell us what to think, or give easy answers — they allow us to discover things for ourselves. He gives me hope for a future where men and women can truly identify with one another’s experiences.
Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to six years in prison for “colluding in gathering and making propaganda against the regime”. Panahi has also been banned from directing films or speaking to the press for 20 years.
Iranian authorities have revoked the filming permit of an internationally acclaimed director over his support for dissident filmmakers. Asghar Ferhadi, who won the award for best director at the Berlin festival in 2009, called for change at a recent Iranian awards ceremony. He spoke out in favour of actress Golshifteh Farahani, and directors Jafar Panahi, who spent three months in jail, and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who supports the opposition Green Movement. Deputy Culture Minister Javad Shamaqdari described Ferhadi’s comments as “inappropriate”. He said that the director was given a week to change his remarks.
Film director Jafar Panahi has been released from Tehran’s Evin prison on a bail of $200,000 (£140,000) after more than two months in custody. Although it has been rumoured he was imprisoned for shooting a film about last June’s disputed presidential elections, it seems more likely his arrest was due to his support for opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Panahi, who was supposed to sit on the jury of the 2010 Cannes Festival, went on a hunger strike last week to protest the circumstances of his detention. Cannes jury head, US director Tim Burton, joined with Iranian independent filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami and other international filmmakers’ calls for Panahi’s release.
Film-maker Jafar Panahi has been imprisoned in Iran since 1 March after the government accused him of making a documentary about last year’s presidential election. He was to be on the Palme d’Or judging panel at the Cannes film festival this week where fellow Iranian film-maker, Abbas Kiarostami, called his arrest an “attack on art” and launched an appeal for his release on 18 May. Panahi has reportedly begun a hunger strike until he is allowed to meet with a lawyer, see his family and be released.
