Filmmaker Jafar Panahi, sentenced to six years in prison in Iran, accuses his country’s authorities of considering independent filmmakers “as criminals”, in a letter addressed to the Venice Film Festival, where he is competing for the Golden Lion .
“We create works that are not commissions, that’s why those in power see us as criminals,” denounces the filmmaker in this letter co-written with his colleague Mohammad Rasoulof and whose Agence France-Presse (AFP) obtained a copy of the festival this Sunday .
Dissident artist Jafar Panahi, one of Iran’s most awarded filmmakers, was arrested and later sentenced in 2010 to six years in prison and a 20-year ban from directing or writing films, traveling or even expressing himself in the media. However, he continued to work and live in Iran.
He was found guilty of “propaganda against the regime” after supporting the 2009 protest movement against the re-election of ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of the Islamic Republic.
“We are independent filmmakers”
On July 11, Jafar Panahi was arrested upon arrival at the Tehran prosecutor’s office to follow up on the case of Mohammad Rasoulof, who had been detained since July 8 along with his colleague Mostafa Aleahmad.
“The history of Iranian cinema testifies to the constant and active presence of independent directors who have fought against censorship and to ensure the survival of this art. Among these, some are banned from making films, others have been forced into exile or reduced to isolation. “, the two filmmakers continue in their letter. “We are filmmakers, independent filmmakers,” they conclude.
Jafar Panahi, in competition this year in Venice with bears don’t existin particular he obtained a Gold Lion in 2000 for The circleand the Screenplay Award at Cannes in 2018 with three facesthree years after the Golden Bear in Berlin for Taxi Tehran.
Source: BFM TV
