Iranian director Reza Dormishian has been banned by authorities from traveling to the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the latest in a series of sanctions that have sparked the creation of a new protest organization.
Dormishian was to attend the world premiere of Dariush Mehrjui A minor in Goa, a film he is producing and acting in competition at IFFI. However, Dormishian was not granted permission to leave Iran, his passport was confiscated at the airport, and he was referred to court for prosecution.
It is not known what charges he faces, but the director shared posts on his Instagram account during recent nationwide protests in Iran following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini while in police custody.
A minor follows a young woman who loves music but whose traditional father forces her to abandon it in favor of studying business, a position supported by her mother.
It marks the latest crackdown by Iranian authorities against filmmakers in the country, including Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad – arrested in July after posting a statement on social media following a violent government crackdown – and the arrest and conviction subsequent to the award. winning author Jafar Panahi, who had visited the prosecutor’s office to follow Rasoulof’s situation.
In response to this and several other cases of persecution, producer Kaveh Farnam and a group of fellow filmmakers founded the Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFMA).
In a statement released today, the new organization said it aims to “prevent and stop repression and violence against peaceful protesters and innocent children in Iran” and “demand the unconditional release of all political prisoners and dissidents, including filmmakers , artists and journalists. “.
Other goals are to “draw the attention of filmmakers and artists around the world to the significance of this movement and call for global action to raise awareness and strengthen resistance against radicalism” and “expose the tactics of the Islamic regime’s propaganda machine, such as the dispatcher. the regime’s spokesmen in international cultural circles, the distribution of government-funded films, the participation of regime officials in film festivals, and the intimidation of journalists and others in the media.”
Farnam is from the manufacturer Rasoulof There Is No Evilwhich won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2020. Rasoulof is among the 18 names listed on the IFFMA website as “retained by the IRG [Islamic Revolutionary Guard]” and includes directors, screenwriters, camera assistants and actresses, among others.
“At this fateful and historic time, we, a group of independent filmmakers who believe in the universal language of cinema as a powerful narrator of truth and peace, have come together,” the IIFMA statement added.
The new organization received the support of the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, founded by the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and the European Film Academy, which acts in cases of persecution or threats to personal safety of filmmakers and defends their right to continue their work, by mobilizing the international film community.