Iran Arrests Golden Bear Winning Director
Mohammad Rasoulof arrested in ‘Brutal’ Raid Over Social Media Posts

Christian Zilko, indiewire
Jul 8, 2022 6:38 pm

His producing partners say he and colleague Mostafa Al-Ahmad have been "transferred to an unknown location." The producers go on to demand both be released and ask for the support of the larger artistic community.

Mohammad Rasoulof, the Golden Bear-winning director of “There Is No Evil” and outspoken critic of Iran’s authoritarian government, was arrested on Friday alongside filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad.

Since moving back to Iran in 2017, Rasoulof has been banned from making films and travelling outside the country after being charged with “propaganda against the system” for his provocative films.He was also sentenced to a year in prison, a charge he was in the process of appealing before the arrest. The Associated Press reported Friday that the filmmakers were arrested for recent social media posts they made that were critical of the government.


Mohammad Rasoulof, AP

The directors were taken into custody over the posting of social media statements that urged Iranian security force members to lay down their weapons,  including clubs and tear gas, against civilian protests over the May 23 collapse at the Metropol Building in Abadan that killed at least 41 people, according to an Associated Press report citing a story from Iranian news agency IRNA.

Both artists’ social media statements — which were among at least 70 Iranian filmmakers and movie industry workers who had signed the same appeal — included the hashtag #put_your_gun_down, a reference to the government’s crackdown on the ongoing unrest in the Khuzestan province, which is southwest of the country’s capital, Tehran. The protests are being fueled by the government’s response to past natural disasters as well as the “shoddy construction practices, government corruption and negligence in Iran,” reports AP.

Kaveh Farnam and Farzad Pak, two of Rasoulof’s Iranian producers, released a statement via distributor Kino Lorber on Twitter, which condemned the arrest while revealing that the two filmmakers are currently being held in an unknown location.

“On Friday, July 8th, Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad, respected and dedicated Iranian filmmakers, were arrested in their residences in a coordinated and brutal attack under false pretenses and transferred to an unknown location,” the statement reads. “As we continue to strongly condemn the authorities for their disregard for basic human rights and civil liberties and the persistent repression and pressure inflicted on committed and independent Iranian filmmakers, we demand the immediate and unconditional release of our colleagues. We ask for support from artists and cinematographers all over the world for the release of imprisoned artists.”


Mostafa Al-Ahmad and Mohammad Rasoulof

Calls for their release continued on Saturday, with the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk publishing a statement in support of both artists after they spoke “out against the unproportionate repression of civil protestors.” Their statement calls “on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mohamad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad” and encourages “all film and culture institutions around the world to do the same.”

The organizers of the Berlin International Film Festival also released a statement expressing their dismay at the imprisonment of “the renowned Iranian directors,” and asserted the festival’s commitment to freedom of expression and freedom of the arts.

“We are deeply concerned about the arrest of Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad. It’s shocking that artists are taken into custody because of their peaceful endeavors against violence,” Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian said in a statement. “We call on the Iranian authorities to release the two directors.”


Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian

In May, Rasoulf posted to his Instagram account a statement — co-signed by a number of Iranian film industry members — condemning Iranian security forces, which he says interrogated and arrested some industry members after raiding both their residencies and workplaces and seizing their personal and work equipment. That statement pointed to censorship and security forces as two entities interfering in the country’s cinema industry and artists’ freedom of expression. (Hollywood Reporter)

This is not Rasoulof’s first brush with the Iranian government. The filmmaker previously risked his safety by writing an open letter in May that accused the government of raiding the homes of filmmakers.

In a 2020 interview with IndieWire’s Eric Kohn, Rasoulof spoke about the Iranian government’s resistance to any films that challenge the status quo, despite its promotion of generic comedies and state-financed military propaganda films.

“There is so much money injected into this part of the industry that they don’t have any box office concerns because the government wants them to exist,” Rasoulof said. “There are totally financed by military and paramilitary services specifically aimed at building propaganda films.”

Still, despite opposition from the country’s authoritarian government, Rasoulof has continued to fight to make challenging art that told the truth about life in Iran.

“What I can observe from my own story,” he said, “is that the satisfaction that you receive once you resist oppression and despotism can be higher than the price you have to pay.”


This Article is related to: Film and tagged Iran, Mohammad Rasoulof, Mostafa Al-Ahmad, There Is No Evil