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Kuwait Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
Iran Cannes winner Panahi backs trucker strikes
Iranian director and screenwriter and producer Jafar Panahi poses with the trophy during a photocall after winning the Palme d'Or for the film "Un simple accident" (A Simple Accident) during the closing ceremony at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France.--AFP Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi backed week-long nationwide strikes by truckers Wednesday as a "loud call" to the authorities, after arriving home from his triumph at the Cannes film festival. Truck drivers across Iran were striking for a seventh day on Wednesday in a stoppage rare in its length and magnitude, seeking better conditions in a sector crucial for the economy in the Islamic republic. After starting last week in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the strike action has spread across the country, according to reports by monitoring groups on social media and Persian-language media based outside Iran. The truck drivers are protesting a rise in insurance premiums, poor road security, high fuel prices and low freight rates, according to union statements cited by these media. "They are fed up. They have no choice but to go strike," Panahi wrote on Instagram, having returned to Iran on Monday after winning the Palme d'or for his latest film "It Was Just an Accident". "When thieves and illiterate people are put in charge, the result is this terrible situation: corruption and mismanagement in everything, from the economy and culture to the environment and politics," added Panahi. The acclaimed director was long banned from filmmaking and unable to leave Iran, having also spent time in prison due to his political stances. "This strike is a loud call to the government saying: 'Enough! Stop all this oppression and plunder'," he said. Persian-language television channels based outside Iran, including Iran International and Manoto, which are critical of the government, said the strike was continuing Wednesday, broadcasting images of deserted roads sent from inside Iran as well as trucks parked up in cities including the central city of Isfahan. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the images. Tankers carrying fuel from the major refinery in Abadan in western Iran have now joined the strike, Manoto said. Iran International also said some participants had been arrested in the western city of Kermanshah, following arrests earlier this week in the southern city of Shiraz. The same outlets also indicated that there have been strikes in other sectors in Iran, notably by bakers who are angered by early morning power cuts when they are baking bread. — AFP
Kuwait Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
Filmmaker Panahi cheered on return to Iran after Cannes triumph
Iranian director and screenwriter and producer Jafar Panahi poses with the trophy during a photocall after winning the Palme d'Or for the film "Un simple accident" (A Simple Accident) during the closing ceremony at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France. -- AFP Iranian filmmaker Jafar Pahani was given a hero's welcome on his return to Tehran Monday by supporters after winning the top prize at the Cannes film festival, footage posted on social media showed. After being banned from leaving Iran for years, forced to make films underground and enduring spells in prison, Panahi attended the French festival in person and sensationally walked away with the Palme d'Or for his latest movie 'It Was Just an Accident'. With some fans concerned that Panahi could face trouble on his return to Iran, he arrived without incident at Tehran's main international airport, named after the founder of the 1979 Islamic revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in the early hours of Monday. He was immediately cheered by supporters waiting in the public area as he descended the escalator from passport control to baggage collection, footage posted by the Dadban legal monitor on social media showed. One person could be heard shouting 'Woman. Life. Freedom!', the slogan of the 2022-2023 protest movement that shook the Iranian authorities. On exiting, he was greeted by around a dozen supporters who had stayed up to welcome him, according to footage posted on Instagram by the Iranian director Mehdi Naderi and broadcast by the Iran International Channel which is based outside Iran. Smiling broadly and waving, he was cheered, applauded, hugged and presented with flowers. 'Fresh blood in the veins of Iranian independent cinema,' wrote Naderi. 'Gesture of resistance' The warm welcome from fans at the airport contrasted with the lukewarm reaction from Iranian state media and officials to the first time an Iranian filmmaker was awarded the Palme d'Or since 'The Taste of Cherry' by the late Abbas Kiarostami in 1997. While evoked by state media such as the IRNA news agency, Panahi's triumph has received only thin coverage inside Iran and has also sparked a diplomatic row with France. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called his victory 'a gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime's oppression' in a post on X, prompting Tehran to summon France's charge d'affaires to protest the 'insulting' comments. 'I am not an art expert, but we believe that artistic events and art in general should not be exploited to pursue political objectives,' said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei. The film is politically-charged, showing five Iranians confronting a man they believe tortured them in prison, a story inspired by Panahi's own time in detention. After winning the prize, Panahi also made a resounding call for freedom in Iran. 'Let's set aside all problems, all differences. What matters most right now is our country and the freedom of our country.' — AFP
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
We're behind the Cannes power cut, boast French anarchists
Two anarchist groups claimed responsibility for a massive power cut that hit the French Riviera over the weekend, saying the sabotage was aimed at 'disrupting' the Cannes Film Festival. Power was lost for five hours on the final day of the festival on Saturday, knocking out traffic lights and ATMs and forcing organisers to use backup generators. Local officials said the causes behind the power cut were a suspected arson attack on a substation and vandalism of an electricity pylon. The headquarters of the festival switched to a backup power supply. Full power was subsequently restored, allowing Saturday night's closing ceremony to go ahead as planned. In an anonymous letter published online on Sunday, the two groups said they were behind the outage. 'The aim of the action was not only to disrupt the festival, but also to deprive all industrial establishments of electricity,' the anarchist groups reportedly wrote in their letter. 'We're not on a film set, but 'cut!' seemed to sum up our desire to turn off this deadly system,' they added, according to a police source. Damien Savarzeix, the public prosecutor in Grasse, said on Saturday that three of the four pillars of a pylon on the high-voltage line in Villeneuve-Loubet, which supplies power to part of the area, including Cannes, 'were sawn off' in a 'malicious act'. Electricity workers then switched off the line to allow the work to be carried out, indirectly causing a power cut that left 160,000 homes without electricity throughout the day. Following the Cannes incident, a blaze then hit an electricity transformer in the west of the city of Nice on Saturday night, knocking out power to 45,000 homes in the city and the surrounding region, the offices of the mayor and local prosecutors said. 'I vigorously condemn these criminal acts hitting our country,' said Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, on X. 'In the coming days, we are reinforcing the [security camera] network around the city's strategic electric sites.' Power was restored around dawn, officials and the Enedis grid company said. At Cannes, the Palme d'Or went to A Simple Accident directed by Jafar Panahi, an Iranian filmmaker who was barred from leaving the state in 2018 when he earned a best screenplay prize. Mr Panahi has been imprisoned several times and went on a hunger strike in 2023 amid a state ban on his filmmaking. Jean-Noel Barrot, France's foreign minister, said his Cannes award was a further 'gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime's oppression'. On Sunday, Iran summoned the French charge d'affaires in Tehran over what it called the minister's 'insulting remarks and unfounded allegations'. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Iran summons French envoy after FM's Cannes comments
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi (left) speaking on stage after winning the Palme d'Or for the film Un Simple Accident (A Simple Accident), watched by Juliette Binoche (right) and Cate Blanchett (second to right). PHOTO: EPA-EFE TEHRAN - France's envoy in Tehran was summoned May 25 over 'insulting' comments by France's foreign minister after an Iranian film won the top prize at the Cannes film festival, state media reported. In a post on X after dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or on May 24, Mr Jean-Noel Barrot called his victory 'a gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime's oppression'. Mr Panahi, 64, was awarded the Palme d'Or for the political drama It Was Just an Accident – a film in which five Iranians confront a man they believe tortured them in prison. Several actresses also appear in the film without veils, in violation of Iran's strict dress code for women. 'Following the insulting remarks and unfounded allegations by the French minister... the charge d'affaires of that country in Tehran has been summoned to the ministry,' state news agency Irna reported on May 25. It said Iran condemns 'the misuse by the French government' of the Cannes festival 'to advance its political agenda against the Islamic Republic'. A story inspired by his own time in detention, Mr Panahi's film led critics' polls throughout the week at Cannes. Mr Panahi's victory had been ignored by the state broadcaster, which instead focused on a state-aligned 'Resistance' film festival. This event awards pro-Palestinian works or those about the eight-year Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. The conservative Fars news agency had suggested the Cannes jury's choice was politically motivated, saying it was 'not uninfluenced by the political issues surrounding Jafar Panahi inside Iran'. Reformist newspapers Etemad, Shargh and Ham Mihan reported the win on their websites but did not feature it on their front pages, possibly due to the timing of the announcement. Mr Panahi, who has been banned from filmmaking in Iran since 2010 and jailed multiple times, addressed the Cannes audience with a call for national unity. He confirmed plans to go home to Iran immediately. Asked late May 24 if he feared arrest, he said: 'Not at all. Tomorrow we are leaving.' On May 25, he posted an Instagram picture of himself with his film crew, saying: 'Travellers return home.' It was only the second time an Iranian director has won the Palme d'Or, after the late Abbas Kiarostami received the honour for Taste of Cherry in 1997. Both directors faced bans throughout their careers. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
France 24
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
Arts24 in Cannes: Iranian Director Jafar Panahi Defies Censorship with bold new film at Cannes
In this episode, we talk about a powerful moment at the Cannes Film festival as acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi presents "A Simple Accident"—a film impossible to separate from his own harrowing story. Long targeted by Iran's regime with censorship, house arrest, and imprisonment, Panahi has defied the odds to attend the festival in person. His latest work offers a stark, unflinching portrait of Iranian society and a bold critique of the ruling powers. As buzz builds around his chances for the Palme d'Or, Panahi sits down for an interview with Louise Dupont from French channel France 24.
