Iranian authorities arrest filmmaker Jafar Panahi

July 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been arrested this Monday by the Iranian authorities in the framework of the protests over the arrest this weekend of two other film directors, Mohamad Rasoulof and Mustafa al Ahmad, according to the Mehr news agency.

The arrests of Rasoulof –winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for the film against the death penalty ‘The Lives of Others’– and Al Ahmad occurred last Friday night in Tehran, a decision that was condemned this Saturday by about 300 professionals in the sector, including Panahi himself.

The main reason is the participation of both artists in a statement called “Put down your arms” that asked the Iranian authorities for restraint in the repression of the protests over the collapse of the building in the province of Khuzestan (south), who condemned the “incompetence ” from the Iranian officials responsible for their oversight.

Kaveh Farnam and Farzad Pak, two of Rasoulof’s Iranian producers, have condemned the “coordinated and brutal attack under false pretexts” that led to the arrest of the filmmakers, who “have been transferred to an unknown location.”

Thus, Panahi would have gone this Monday, along with a group of directors of photography, to the Evin prison, located in the north of Tehran, to protest the arrest of these two colleagues, according to different local media.

Panahi was banned by the Iranian government from making films for 20 years and was sentenced to six years in prison for “propaganda against the system.” At the time, he was released under house arrest, but is restricted from leaving the country, shooting movies or writing scripts.

The Iranian filmmaker won the Golden Bear for Best Picture for Taxi, which tells the story of a driver who whisks a unique assortment of passengers around Tehran, and delivers a seemingly whimsical but ultimately insightful look at the life and production of cinema in the country.

In fact, due to the bans, Panahi was unable to attend the gala and receive the award for the film — which had to be recorded secretly and under ban — and was picked up instead by Hana Saeid, the director’s niece. , who also appears in the film.

Panahi, who was a supporter of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in ​​Iran’s 2009 elections, also received, among many other international accolades, the 1995 Cannes Film Festival’s Camera d’Or award for The White Globe.