Iranian authorities arrested filmmakers Mustafa al-Ahmadi and Golden Bear owner Mohammad Rasoulof on Friday.
The directors were arrested for posting statements on social media urging members of the Iranian security forces to lay down their weapons, including batons and tear gas, against civil protests over the collapse of the Metropolis building in Abadan on May 23, in which at least 41 people died. people. according to people Associated press reports based on the history of the Iranian news agency GO TO.
A statement on social media by the two artists, who were among at least 70 Iranian filmmakers and film industry workers who signed the same appeal, included the hashtag #load_your_arms, a reference to the government’s crackdown on ongoing unrest in Iran. Khuzestan. in Tehran, the country’s capital. The protests were sparked by the government’s response to past natural disasters, as well as “poor construction practices, government corruption and neglect in Iran,” the AP reports.
On Friday, Kaveh Farnam and Farzad Pak, the Iranian producers who work with Rasuloff, issued their own statement. condemn the prisons Both “respected and dedicated Iranian filmmakers”, they said, were “arrested from their homes in a coordinated and brutal attack under false pretenses and taken to an unknown location”. Producers continue to release both and seek support from the larger arts community.
“While we continue to strongly condemn the government’s disregard for basic human rights and civil liberties and the continued repression and pressure on loyal and independent Iranian filmmakers, we demand the immediate and unconditional release of our colleagues,” the statement said. “We ask for the support of artists and filmmakers around the world for the release of imprisoned artists.”
Calls for release continued on Saturday as the International Coalition of Filmmakers at Risk issued a statement in support of the two artists after they spoke out against the “disproportionate crackdown on civilian protesters”. His statement called on “the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mohammad Rasoulof and Mustafa al-Ahmadi” and called on “all film and cultural institutions in the world to do the same.”
The organizers of the Berlin International Film Festival also issued a statement expressing concern about the arrests of “known Iranian directors” and affirming the festival’s commitment to freedom of expression and artistic freedom.
“We are deeply concerned about the arrest of Mohammad Rasoulof and Mustafa Al-Ahmadi.” It is shocking that artists are arrested for their peaceful efforts against violence,” Berlinale directors Mariette Riesenbeck and Carlo Chatriani said in a statement. We appeal to the Iranian authorities to release the two directors.
In May, Rasulf posted a statement on Instagram, signed by several members of the Iranian film industry, condemning Iranian security forces, who he said interrogated and detained some industry members after breaking into their homes and workplaces and confiscating their assets. employees and personal work equipment. . The statement pointed to censorship and security forces as two entities that interfere with the country’s film industry and the freedom of expression of artists.
Friday’s arrest was not Rasuloff’s first. The 2020 Berlin Film Festival top prize winner There is no such thing as evil After receiving the honour, he was arrested and sentenced to one year in prison for three of his films, which Iranian authorities called “propaganda against the system”, and his lawyer appealed the sentence. During this period, he was also banned from making films and traveling abroad.
In early 2017, upon returning to Iran from the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, his passport was confiscated and he was forced to appear before the Tehran Court of Culture and Media. H was arrested again in 2011, the same year his movie bye He won an award at Cannes, along with director Jafar Panahi, for Unauthorized Filming.
The pair were sentenced to six years in prison and banned from making films for 20 years, also for “producing propaganda”, before their sentences were reduced to one year on appeal. In the film review, the hollywood reporter described bye As a “dark tale”, it centers on a young lawyer who “openly attacks the blind repression of Iranian civil society”.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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