Iran sentences award-winning director Jafar Panahi to one year in prison for “propaganda activities” | Iran

Iran has sentenced Palme d’Or-winning director Jaafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison and banned him from traveling due to “propaganda activities” against the country.

Panahi’s lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said that the ruling includes banning him from leaving Iran for two years and banning him from membership in any political or social group, adding that they will file an appeal.

Neely said that the charges against the Iranian director are involvement in “propaganda activities” against the state, but he did not provide details. He added: “Mr. Panahi is outside Iran now.”

Panahi, 65, won the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for “It Was Just an Accident,” a film in which five former prisoners consider whether to take revenge on a man they believe is their former prisoner.

Last month, he was on a US tour, visiting Los Angeles, New York and Telluride, Colorado, to promote his latest film, which he hopes will win an Oscar.

The film has been selected by France as its official Academy Awards nomination, and is widely expected to be shortlisted for Best International Film at the Academy Awards in March.

Iranian media reported Panahi’s win at the Cannes Film Festival, which at the time praised the award by publishing a picture of him.

He has won a host of awards at European film festivals and his first film, The White Balloon, premiered at Cannes in 1995, which won Best Feature Film.

In 2010, Panahi was banned from making films and from leaving Iran after supporting mass anti-government protests a year earlier and producing a series of films that criticized the state of modern Iran.

After being convicted of “propaganda against the regime”, he was sentenced to six years in prison, but spent only two months behind bars before being released on bail.

A year after he was banned from making films for 20 years, he sent a documentary called “This is Not a Film” to the Cannes Film Festival on a flash drive hidden in a cake.

His 2015 film Taxi was shot entirely in a car and featured Panahi playing a taxi driver.

In 2022, he was arrested in connection with protests by a group of filmmakers, but was released after approximately seven months.

Iranian filmmakers, prominent media figures, and celebrities are closely monitored in Iran and their works are reviewed for content deemed critical of Iran.

Last year, award-winning director Mohammad Rasoulof fled Iran to escape a prison sentence on charges of “collusion against national security.”