Prominent Iranian film director Mohammad Rasoulof says he has fled the country after a court sentenced him to eight years in prison for his film.
Rasoulov, best known for his award-winning film “There Is No Evil,” was banned from leaving Iran after his work criticized life under the Iranian dictatorship.His lawyer Babak Paxnia wrote last week on social media Court sentences Mr Rasulov to jail, whipping and fine over his film it’s called “Examples of collusion with intent to commit crimes endangering national security.”
On Monday, Mr Rasoulov announced he was fleeing Iran In an Instagram post The video features snowy mountains and says he has reached a “safe place” after a “difficult and long journey.”
Addressing Iran’s religious rulers, Rasoulov said he was forced to leave “due to your oppression and barbarism” and that he had now joined the ranks of Iranian exiles who “impatiently wait to take you and your machine of oppression buried in the abyss of Iran.” history. “
He did not provide details about his location and did not respond to messages from The New York Times.
“Innocent”, which focuses on an Iranian executioner, won the top prize at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival. Mr. Rasoulof, who directed the film in secret, was banned from traveling abroad to attend the awards ceremony.
Iran’s film industry is renowned internationally but is tightly regulated at home, with authorities able to ban screenings and filming.
Mr. Rasoulof’s new film, “The Sacred Fig Seed,” will premiere at France’s Cannes Film Festival this month.
Mr. Paxnia said some of the film’s producers were interrogated by authorities and some actors were banned from leaving the country. said in a social media post last month.
Mr Rasulov told The New York Times in 2020 Early in his career, he used allegorical stories to avoid direct confrontation with power, but ultimately felt that this was “a form of acceptance of a tyrannical regime.”
He went on to use his film to offer sharp criticism of Iran’s clerical rulers, including “Manuscripts will not be burned” and”an honest person” – the film won an award at Cannes in 2017.
Over the years, Iranian authorities accused him of engaging in anti-state propaganda, confiscated his passport, arrested and prosecuted him.
in a statement released on monday“The scope and intensity of the repression has reached brutal proportions, and every day people expect news of another heinous government crime,” Mr Rasulov said.
Riley Nikunazar Reporting from Brussels.
