Iranian filmmaker flees to Europe after jail sentence forward of his Cannes premiere

CANNES, France — After being sentenced to eight years in jail, the award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof says he is fled to Europe shortly forward of the Cannes Movie Competition premiere of his newest movie.

“I arrived in Europe a couple of days in the past after a protracted and sophisticated journey,” Rasoulof stated in an announcement dated Sunday and distributed by press brokers Monday.

Final week, Rasoulof’s lawyer instructed The Related Press that the director had been sentenced to eight years in jail, flogging and confiscation of property by the Islamic Republic. Rasoulof’s legal professional, Babak Paknia, stated the filmmaker was being punished for making movies and signing statements.

Iranian authorities haven’t but acknowledged Rasoulof’s sentence and there was no rapid touch upon his departure. Rasoulof and different artists had co-signed a letter urging authorities to place down their weapons amid demonstrations over a 2022 constructing collapse that killed at the very least 29 individuals within the southwestern metropolis of Abadan.

Rasoulof, 51, is the newest artist focused in a widening crackdown on all dissent in Iran following years of mass protests, together with over the 2022 dying of Mahsa Amini. His 2020 movie “There Is No Evil” gained the Golden Bear prize at Berlin in 2020.

Rasoulof stated the jail sentence got here earlier than he revealed his newest movie, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” That movie premieres in competitors in Cannes on Might 24.

“Understanding that the information of my new movie can be revealed very quickly, I knew that indubitably, a brand new sentence can be added to those eight years,” stated Rasoulof. “I didn’t have a lot time to decide. I had to decide on between jail and leaving Iran. With a heavy coronary heart, I selected exile. The Islamic Republic confiscated my passport in September 2017. Due to this fact, I needed to depart Iran secretly.”

Rasoulof stated he strongly objected to his ruling however famous many others have been handed dying sentences within the crackdown.

“The scope and depth of repression has reached some extent of brutality the place individuals count on information of one other heinous authorities crime daily,” stated Rasoulof. “The felony machine of the Islamic Republic is repeatedly and systematically violating human rights.”

Rasoulof is at the moment in an undisclosed location. It is unclear if he’ll attend the Cannes premiere of his movie.

“We’re very completely satisfied and far relieved that Mohammad has safely arrived in Europe after a harmful journey,” stated Jean-Christophe Simon, chief government of Movies Boutique and Parallel45. “We hope he’ll have the ability to attend the Cannes premiere of ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ despite all makes an attempt to forestall him from being there in individual.”

Shortly earlier than the discharge of Rasoulof’s assertion, Thierry Fremaux, Cannes’ inventive director, stated “the actual query is about his presence” when requested in regards to the “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in a pre-festival press convention Monday.

“The pageant speaks by means of movies,” stated Fremaux. He described “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” as about “how insidiously the Iranian dictatorship creeps into households.”

Rasoulof additionally detailed the stress placed on his collaborators on the movie. Some actors left Iran earlier than wider consciousness of the manufacturing, he stated. Others have been interrogated and had their households summoned for questioning. Rasoulof stated his cinematographer’s workplaces was raided.

“Many individuals helped to make this movie,” he stated. “My ideas are with all of them, and I concern for his or her security and well-being.”