He had incited demonstrations after the collapse of a building which caused more than 40 victims in Iran and denounced the “corruption” of the authorities. From now on, Mohammad Rasoulof, whose latest film will be presented in Cannes, is sentenced to prison.
His latest film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, will be in competition at the next Cannes Film Festival but he will not be there: Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof was sentenced to eight years in prison, including five years applicable, to beatings. whip, a fine and confiscation of his property, a judgment which has, moreover, already been confirmed on appeal. The news does not come from the official Iranian media but directly from the artist’s lawyer, Mr. Babak Paknia, via a post on (formerly Twitter).
In May 2022, the director, 52, was already banned from leaving Iran to join the members of the Un Certain Regard jury of which he was to be a part, before being imprisoned by the Iranian authorities in July of the same year .
His crime: having encouraged demonstrations which took place after the collapse of a building which killed more than 40 people in the city of Abadan, in the southwest of Iran. Subsequently, he led a group of Iranian filmmakers and together they published an open letter calling on law enforcement to stop using weapons during protests, denouncing “corruption” and “incompetence.” ” Iranian officials. He was released in February 2023 for health reasons.
JACOVIDES-BORDE-MOREAU / BESTIMAGE Mohammad Rasoulof
Me Babak Paknia clarified that the main reason for his conviction was his client’s public statements, in addition to the making of films and documentaries which, according to the court’s opinion, were “examples of collusion with the intent to commit a crime against the security of the country”.
Before this verdict, the Iranian authorities had exerted strong pressure on the director to remove The Seed of the Sacred Fig of the Cannes Film Festival. Mr. Babak Paknia, who is a lawyer specializing in human rights, had also written in a previous post that several actors and producers of the film had also been harassed, summoned and questioned by the authorities who had tried to put pressure on on them also to convince Mohammad Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival. They were also banned from leaving the country.
In 2020, the filmmaker was also not allowed to attend the Berlinale. That year, it was his daughter, Baran Rasoulof, who received the Golden Bear on his behalf for her shocking film on the death penalty, The Devil Does Not Exist, in which she also appeared.
The Devil Does Not Exist can be discovered on VOD.