EUROPEAN SECTOR CONDEMNS IRAN FOR PERSECUTION OF FILMMAKER

Heads of the European film sector have spoken in unison condemning the imminent incarceration of Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. The director of the 2020 Berlinale Golden Bear winner There is No Evil, a film that casts a critical eye on the consequences of life under authoritarian rule, has been summoned by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Offenses Relating to Media and Culture to serve one year in prison.

This comes after the Iranian Revolutionary Court sentenced the filmmaker (pictured, above) to one year in prison, with a two-year prohibition against working as a director, for alleged propaganda against the government, in July 2019. The internationally acclaimed Rasoulof, an Un Certain Regard winner for his films Lerd (2017) and Au Revoir (2011), is also under a two-year ban on leaving the country and becoming involved in any social or political activity.

"Summoning me to serve my prison sentence only reveals a small fraction of the intolerance and anger that is characteristic of the Iranian regime’s response to criticism,” Rasoulof says. “Many cultural activists are in prison for criticizing the government." He also points out that Iranian prisons are a hotbed for the Covid-19 virus, with conditions unlikely to change under the current regime. “These conditions call for an immediate response from the international community," he says. (Pictured, right; Baran Rasoulof, daughter of the director, and Ehsan Mirhosseini in There is No Evil). 

Institutions that have declared their support for Rasoulof are The European Film Academy, The Cannes Film Festival, the Deutsche Filmakademie, the Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, the Filmfest Hamburg, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), the Netherlands Film Fund and the Accademia del cinema italiano-Premi David di Donatello. The bodies have collectively called for the charges against him to be retracted and the travel ban against him to be lifted immediately and unconditionally.

Via a press statement, President of the European Film Academy, Wim Wenders, declared, "Our colleague Mohammad Rasoulof is an artist who keeps telling us about a reality we would otherwise know little about. There is No Evil is a deeply humane portrait of people in extreme situations, situations no human should be forced to experience. We need voices like that of Mohammad Rasoulof, voices defending human rights, freedom and dignity." (Pictured, left; actress Baran Rasoulof at the Berlin Film Festival, with her father and director on the phone, following his Golden Bear win).

Ulrich Matthes, President of the Deutsche Filmakademie, adds “His deeply humane films about freedom and oppression have reached so many people worldwide. He is a representative master of Iranian cinema: a rich film culture that has provided us with some of the most compelling stories about the human condition. Mohammad Rasoulof’s films not only tell us about life in Iran but also speak to us in the universal language of cinema to promote empathy and peace."

The European voices are also demanding Rasoulof’s health and safety be ensured and that film festivals, cinema chains and all artists globally make their protestations known to Iranian officials and embassy staff in their region.