Iranian Filmmaker Panahi JailedInfluential Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who has long been at odds with his native country’s administration, has received a six year jail sentence, after he was convicted of “gathering, colluding and propaganda against the regime.” Panahi, the director of “The White Balloon,” “Crimson Gold” and “Offside,” is also banned for 20 years from making any films, writing any scripts, traveling abroad and also forbidden from giving any interviews to foreign and domestic media outlets.
A supporter of the Iranian Green Movement, Panahi also had been jailed last year for his participation in a post-election rally in Tehran. His passport was revoked, and he was arrested and jailed again from March until May. Scheduled to attend Cannes as part of the jury, his chair was left empty in his absence. His films weave political narratives together with larger themes of the human condition.
When Panahi was jailed in 2009, Francis Ford Coppola, Joel and Ethan Coen, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and several other prominent filmmakers signed a petition demanding his release.
