Iranian film director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose latest film will be shown this month at the Cannes Film Festival, was sentenced by the Islamic Republic of Iran to five years in prison for “collusion against national security”, his lawyer said on Wednesday. (8).
The verdict also includes penalties of “lashes, fines and confiscation of assets” for the director, said lawyer Babak Paknia, on the social network X.
Official Iranian media outlets have not yet released any information about the sentence.
Babak Paknia explained that the sentence was 8 years in prison, 5 of which were effective, against Rasoulof, who in 2020 won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival with his film “There Is No Evil”, against the death penalty.
Rasoulof, 52, was detained in July 2022 for supporting the protests that broke out in Iran after the collapse of a building in the southwest of the country, which left more than 40 people dead.
On that occasion, a group of Iranian filmmakers brought together by Rasoulof asked, in an open letter, that security forces “lay down their arms” in the face of popular outrage against “corruption” and “incompetence” of leaders.
Authorities released him at the end of 2023, after anti-government protests that began in September 2022 gradually died down.
His film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” was selected in the official competition at the Cannes festival, which will open on May 14 in that French Mediterranean city.
– Pressures –
Paknia reported on April 30 that Iranian authorities had interrogated film crew members and actors from his latest film.
The lawyer also denounced the pressure suffered to remove the film from the Cannes festival. In a message on the social network X, he explained that some actors were banned from leaving the country.
Paknia said he did not know whether Rasoulof would be able to leave Iran to participate in the French festival.
Participating in the Cannes Film Festival has become increasingly difficult for Iranian directors and actors in recent years.
Director Saeed Roustayi, for example, was sentenced to six months in prison for showing his film “Baradaran-e Leila” (Leila’s Brothers, in English) in the 2022 edition.
Authorities in the Islamic Republic claimed at the time that the film was shown without authorization.
Its protagonist, Taraneh Alidoosti, was released in early 2023 after spending almost three weeks in prison for supporting the protest movement triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022.
Amini was detained for allegedly violating the country’s strict women’s dress code.
Iran has long had a thriving film scene and has won awards around the world, with prominent figures such as Jafar Panahi and Asghar Farhadi.
