Officials arrest Iran movie industry workers: filmmaker

This news has been read 7674 times!

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 15, (AP): An award-wining Iranian filmmaker said authorities raided the offices and homes of several filmmakers and other industry professionals and arrested some of them. Mohammad Rasoulof said in a statement signed by dozens of movie industry professionals on his Instagram account late Saturday that security forces made some arrests and confiscated film production equipment during raids conducted in recent days. The statement condemned the actions and called them “illegal.” In a separate Instagram post, Rasoulof identified two of the detained filmmakers as Firouzeh Khosravani and Mina Keshavarz. Rasoulof was not targeted in the recent raids. Iranian media and authorities have not commented on the raids and no additional details were immediately available.

FILE – Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof poses during a photo call for the film The Immigrant at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France on May 24, 2013. Rasoulof said in a statement signed by dozens of movie industry professionals on his Instagram account late Saturday, May 14, 2022 that security forces made some arrests and confiscated film production equipment during raids conducted in recent days. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

Authorities in Iran occasionally arrest activists in cultural fields over alleged security violations. Rasoulof won the Berlin Film Festival’s top prize in 2020 for his film “There Is No Evil.” It tells four stories loosely connected to the themes of the death penalty in Iran and personal freedoms under tyranny. Shortly after receiving the award he was sentenced to a year in prison for three films he made that authorities found to be “propaganda against the system.” His lawyer appealed the sentence. He was also banned from making films and traveling abroad. Iran’s conservative authorities, many with religious sensibilities, control all the levers of power in Iran. They have long viewed many cultural activities as part of a “soft war” by the West against the Islamic Republic. They say Westernization is attempting to tarnish the country’s Islamic beliefs.

This news has been read 7674 times!

Related Articles

Back to top button

Advt Blocker Detected

Kindly disable the Ad blocker

Verified by MonsterInsights