Several leading Hollywood organizations representing writers, directors, actors and the group that awards the Oscars, issued a sharply-worded statement on Wednesday lending their support to jailed Iranian filmmakers.
The statement addressed the September 2011 arrests of producer Katayoun Shahabi, directors Naser Saffarian, Hadi Afarideh, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and Shahnam Bazdar and documentarian Mohsen Shahrnazdar for work they were said to have performed for the BBC.
Safarian and Shahrnazdar have since been released, but the fate of the others is unknown, according to entertainment industry newspaper Daily Variety.
The groups also singled out the ongoing house arrest of acclaimed director Jafar Panahi, as well as the imprisonment of actress Marzieh Vafamehr, who also was sentenced to receive 90 lashes by Iranian authorities.

Hollywood has expressed concern about Iran’s crackdown on directors and actors and called on Tehran to release the detained filmakers.
“The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is deeply concerned whenever and wherever the rights of filmmakers are threatened,” the group said in a statement Wednesday signed by several movie-making guilds.
“The recent arrest of six Iranian filmmakers, the sentence of ‘one year in jail and 90 lashes’ to an actress just for playing a role in an acclaimed film, and the continued house arrest of Jafar Panahi, among others, is a situation that demands our serious attention,” it said.
“We join our colleagues around the world in calling unequivocally for these filmmakers’ safety, release, and return to filmmaking.” (Agencies)