Panahi says ‘not at all' scared to return to Iran after Cannes win
Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi told AFP on Saturday that he was 'not at all' scared to return to Iran after winning the top film prize at the Cannes film festival.
Asked if he was worried after scooping the prestigious Palme d'Or for 'It Was Just an Accident,' he replied: 'Not at all. Tomorrow we are leaving.'
He said that the prize was 'not something for me.'
'It's something for all Iranian filmmakers who cannot work right now but we hope that all Iranian filmmakers will be able to work,' he told AFP.
Panahi has been jailed twice before and was banned from making films for 20 years in 2010.
Iran's state IRNA news agency reported on and hailed Panahi's award with a picture of him.
'The world's largest film festival made history for Iranian cinema,' it reported, recalling the first win for an Iranian at the festival in 1997 by Abbas Kiarostami.
Like his previous films, Panahi shot 'It Was Just an Accident' in secret and he revealed earlier this week that his cast and team had been put under 'pressure.'
Several members were called in for questioning by Iranian authorities including actress Hadis Pakbaten, he told a news conference.
'Once the film had been announced as being selected (for Cannes), we were put under pressure, we were threatened, we were questioned,' she told the media.
'At the beginning it was scary. I'm young and I was worried for my family.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
8 hours ago
- Arab News
Princess Rajwa shows support in sporty style at World Cup qualifier
DUBAI: Princess Rajwa Al-Hussein of Jordan attended the AFC World Cup qualifier match between Jordan and Oman on Thursday, opting for a look that blended national pride with contemporary style. The princess, who is of Saudi origin, wore the official home shirt of the Jordan national football team, featuring a white base with red collar and sleeve accents. She paired the jersey with Victoria Beckham's structured pocket trousers in the 'Sandstorm' shade, featuring a high-waisted silhouette with fine pinstripes and curved front pockets. A post shared by NB | Imperial • Royal • Noble • Aristocratic (@noblesblogger) To accessorize, Princess Rajwa chose pieces from Bilarabiya Jewellery. She wore the brand's 'Abjad Hawaz' single earring and a custom necklace bearing the name of her daughter, Princess Iman, written in Arabic. Princess Rajwa sat alongside Princess Iman and Princess Salma, the sisters of the crown prince, who were also dressed in the national team's shirt. The Jordanian national team qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup for the first time in its history, following a decisive 3-0 victory over Oman. Jordan secured its spot on the penultimate day of Asian qualifying for the tournament, which will be held in the US, Mexico and Canada.
Arab News
13 hours ago
- Arab News
Saudi artist Abdullah Al-Othman discusses work exploring linguistic architectural landscapes
DUBAI: In the Bawwaba section of the most recent edition of Art Dubai, Saudi artist Abdullah Al-Othman's installation 'Manifesto: Language & the City II' presented photographs and numerous illuminated signs and symbols in Arabic against two black walls, reflecting the urban signage one may find in Riyadh. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ The installation was an evolution of a series that includes 2021's 'Manifesto: the Language and the City,' a multimedia installation exploring the linguistic and architectural landscape of Riyadh for the inaugural Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, which went on to be included in the Lyon Biennale in 2022, and 'Fantasy Land,' which Al-Othman created for the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival in 2021 — a neon wall installation exploring themes of human experience and the shifts between reality and illusion. 'Language & the City II' pulsed with light and color and the expressive characters of the Arabic language made the viewer feel as if they were indeed on a bustling street in the Saudi capital. 'Language is akin to history — it's very deep,' Al-Othman tells Arab News. 'Through my research I realized how language is like a brand for a culture — it references history and people. I study the language that we find in cities. The documentation of language affects the architectural style in an urban environment and the relationship between people and their environment.' 'Language & the City II' was made from a variety of materials, predominantly neon signage, lightboxes and wooden advertising signs that were once hung in the streets of Riyadh. Al-Othman's installation brought them together to create a portrait of the city through its typographic, visual and architectural styles. Riyadh's identity, explains Al-Othman, is revealed through the language, style and vibrant colors of these lit symbols, offering a collective memory of a city in the throes of change. As an artist and a poet, language has always played an important role in Al-Othman's life. While he began as a writer, he arrived at a point where he could no longer fully express himself with words and turned to art, creating works that incorporate sound, found objects, sculpture, film and performance. In 2017's 'Suspended Al-Balad,' for the 21,39, contemporary art festival, Al-Othman wrapped an entire building in Jeddah's historic Al-Balad district, originally used as a shelter for widows and divorced women, with tin foil. Al Othman's intuitive approach to art creation leads him to organically move between and incorporate different mediums. Light is a significant element in his work, whether bouncing off tin foil or shining in neon to reflect the everyday urban environment of Riyadh. 'I want to create journeys for people to discover the importance of language,' says Al-Othman. 'Language is a deeply important part of being human.' Today Al-Othman continues to expand his research and art creation. He has recently published a book on his research supported by The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) and the Saudi Cultural Development Fund. Presently he is creating sculptures out of various Arabic words from made from different materials for his latest project, 'Engineering the Incomplete.' 'In my artistic practice, I engage with language as an open field for analysis and reconstruction,' he writes in his statement for the new project. 'I begin from moments of absence — from missing letters and fractured words — treating them as signals of the fragility inherent in the symbolic systems we rely on to make sense of the world. 'Failure to achieve perfection becomes an essential part of creation, not a flaw to be corrected,' he continues. 'Incompleteness is not simply a void, but an active component that generates new, open-ended meanings. Each missing letter, each visual gap, forms an alternative path of reading and invites the viewer to reshape their relationship with language and the urban environment.' 'Engineering the Incomplete' uses the structure of the letter as an entity capable of both disintegration and destruction and therefore the resulting text as something that is unstable and constantly changing. 'My practice transforms language from a tool of communication into a material and temporal organism caught in the tension between structure and collapse,' Al-Othman adds. 'Through material techniques that draw from urban elements and the reconfiguration of textual spaces, my work seeks to highlight the continuous tension between the desire for expression and the inherent limits of linguistic possibilities.' Al-Othman says that 'Engineering the Incomplete' is not an attempt to restore what is lost, but an invitation to read absence, or lacking, as another form of presence and a new beginning. Incompleteness, he emphasizes, offers 'a way to produce new meaning and vision.'
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
YouTube educator says she is ready to risk career for Gaza's children
LONDON: American children's educator and YouTuber Rachel Griffin Accurso, known globally as Ms Rachel, has said she is willing to jeopardize her career to advocate for Palestinian children suffering under Israeli bombardment in Gaza. Ms Rachel said she had been targeted by online campaigns and faced calls for government investigation after voicing support for children affected by war in Gaza and elsewhere. Despite growing criticism from some pro-Israel groups and conservative media, she said she remained defiant in a recent interview with WBUR, a Boston-based public radio station. She said: 'I would risk everything — and I will risk my career over and over to stand up for children. It's all about the kids for me. I wouldn't be Ms Rachel if I didn't deeply care about all kids.' Her comments came as humanitarian agencies continue to sound the alarm over conditions in Gaza, where more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed, and the UN has warned that the enclave faces imminent famine. The YouTube star said a recent meeting with Palestinian mothers, whose children remain trapped in Gaza, had had a profound effect on her. She said: 'When you sit with a mother who's FaceTiming her boys in Gaza who don't have food, and you see that anguish, you ask yourself: What more can I do?' Ms Rachel recently published about her encounter with Rahaf, 3, a double amputee from Gaza who was evacuated for medical treatment in the US by the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. Rahaf's story, including her wish to return to school and stand while praying, has been shared by Ms Rachel on her social media platforms, alongside the educator's advocacy for children in Gaza. Ms Rachel has faced accusations of bias, including a call by a pro-Israel organization urging the US attorney general to investigate her messaging. She acknowledged the pressure, but insisted her mission remains unchanged. She said: 'It's painful, but I know who I am, and I know how deeply and equally I care for all children.' A former teacher in New York, Ms Rachel said her work had always been rooted in the principle that all children, regardless of nationality or background, deserved dignity, safety, and access to basic needs. She added: 'That's the basis of everything for me — children are equal.'
