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The imprisoned Iranian film director has been refusing food since early February. The background to the current events.
Why did Jafar Panahi go on a hunger strike? The Iranian director has been in the notorious Ewin prison in the Iranian capital Tehran since July 2022. According to the judiciary, he is serving a six-year prison sentence there for “anti-government propaganda”.
He is now protesting “with the most valuable thing I have: my life”. He writes this in a statement that Panahi’s wife Tahereh Saeedi posted on her Instagram channel in Persian and with an English translation.
According to the statement, Panahi has been on a hunger strike since Wednesday morning and is not taking any medicine. “I will remain in this state, perhaps until my lifeless body is released from prison.”
What is the history? Several well-known filmmakers have been imprisoned in Iran since last summer. Among them is the Berlinale winner Mohammed Rassulof. He and Panahi were critical of a shopping arcade collapse in the Iranian city of Abadan last July that killed dozens. Filmmakers, actresses and international film festivals subsequently expressed their solidarity with those arrested.
Legend:
Wave of solidarity: Jury members of the Venice International Film Festival demonstrate in September 2022 for the release of Jafar Panahi.
Getty Images / Victor Boyko
What are the reactions to the hunger strike? Unlike last summer, there are still little-known voices commenting on the current situation at Jafar Panahi. One of the first was the Iranian-French comic artist Marjane Satrapi (“Persepolis”) online petition launched for the release of Panahi.
The Berlinale, at which Panahi was represented several times with his films, once again demanded his release on Twitter:
What is the meaning of Jafar Panahi? The 62-year-old filmmaker is one of the country’s most internationally renowned directors. In 1997 he received the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival for “Der Spiegel”. Three years later he won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival for «The Circle». In 2006 he won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale for «Offside».
Numerous awards followed, including the main prize at the Berlinale in 2015 for “Taxi Tehran”. In his films, Panahi repeatedly takes a critical look at the politics of the Islamic Republic.