In recent days, the pressure exerted by the Iranian authorities on director Mohammad Rasoulof, who has prepared a new film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”, has increased. This production was qualified for the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Despite the prestige of participating in this event, the Iranian authorities took drastic measures to force the director to withdraw the film. As reported by the director’s lawyer, Babak Paknia, “The producers and actors of the film were summoned for hearings, during which they were urged to pressure Rasoulof to withdraw from the festival in France.”
Interrogations and ban on leaving the country
According to reports, the interrogations lasted several hours many of those interrogated were banned from leaving the country. “The authorities use various pressure methods to intimidate and force creators to refrain from presenting their work internationally,” Paknia emphasizes. These actions show the difficulties that local filmmakers have to face.
Prison sentence and repression
In a huge blow to Rasoulof, an Iranian court sentenced him to eight years in prison and other severe penalties, including flogging, fines and confiscation of property. An Iranian court found that Rasoulof’s public statements, as well as his videos and documents, “were examples of collusion with the intent to commit a crime against the country’s security.”. The director has already had legal problems. In 2022, he was sentenced to prison for, together with other filmmakers, calling in an open letter for the security forces to lay down their weapons, as an expression of opposition to the corruption and incompetence responsible for the disaster of a building in southwestern Iran, which killed more than 40 people.
Prestigious achievements of the director
Mohammad Rasoulof is considered one of the most outstanding Iranian directors. His film “An Honest Man” won the main prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017, and “No Evil” won him the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2020.
Source: Gazeta
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