Pedro Almodóvar, Ali Abbasi and More Film Figures Fight Prosecution of Iranian Directors
The international film community is in uproar over the summoning of Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha to court in their native country amid the production and distribution of their 2024 Berlin Film Festival feature My Favourite Cake.
The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) has reiterated its unequivocal support for Moghadam and Sanaeeha, currently awaiting the start of their trial with Iran's Revolutionary Court on Mar. 1.
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The charges leveled against them concern the production and distribution of their My Favourite Cake, a movie about a woman in Tehran who rediscovers her desires in a country where women's rights are heavily restricted.
Authorities first raided the offices of the film's editor in 2023, the ICFR said, with Moghadam and Sanaeeha 'under continuous scrutiny of the Iranian regime.' The Iranian government's persecution efforts led to a travel ban for the directors, which meant they could not attend their film's world premiere at the 2024 Berlinale in person, they told THR at the time.
The ICFR has now launched a petition gathering momentum among the international film community. It currently at 2,200+ signatures and has been signed so far by industry-famous creatives Pedro Almodóvar, Juliette Binoche, Céline Sciamma, Joachim Trier, Hiam Abbass, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Ali Abbasi and Arthur Harari, as well as such institutions as Berlinale, Venice Film Festival, Quinzaine des Cinéastes, the European Film Academy and Sydney Film Fest.
At the 2024 Berlinale, a statement from Moghadam and Sanaeeha read: 'We have come to believe that it is no longer possible to tell the story of an Iranian woman while obeying strict laws such as the mandatory hijab. Women for whom the red lines prevent the depiction of their true lives, as full human beings. This time, we decided to cross all of the restrictive red lines, and accept the consequences of our choice to paint a real picture of Iranian women – images that have been banned in Iranian cinema ever since the Islamic Revolution.'
After a long string of interrogations at the Evin Security Prosecutor's Office, the duo are now expected in court on Saturday on allegations of 'propaganda against the regime,' 'production, distribution and duplication of a film with obscene content,' 'offending public decency and morality' and 'screening the film without obtaining a screening/distribution license.'
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