Latest news with #Berlinale-premiering
Euronews
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
‘My Favourite Cake' directors given suspended prison sentence in Iran for showing unveiled woman
ADVERTISEMENT Iranian directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha have been given a 14-month suspended jail sentence by an Iranian court on charges that include alleged production of obscene content in their Berlinale-premiering film My Favourite Cake – our joint Number 1 film of 2024 alongside Mohammad Rasoulof's Oscar nominated film The Seed of the Sacred Fig . After months of interrogations and travel bans over the past two years — which prevented them from attending the 2024 Berlin premiere – Moghaddam and Sanaeeha had been charged with making a film labeled as 'obscene' and 'offending public morality.' They were also accused of 'propaganda against the regime' and other charges claiming the film was 'unlawfully' screened without the Iranian authorities' permits for distribution. The Iranian court also convicted My Favourite Cake producer Gholamreza Mousavi to the same sentence as the directors, which also includes a fine of 400 million Iranian Rials (€8,240). My Favourite Cake follows a lonely septuagenarian widow Mahin (Lily Farhadpour) in Tehran who rediscovers her desires in a country where women's rights are heavily restricted. 'We wanted to tell the story of the reality of our lives, which is about those forbidden things like singing, dancing, not wearing hijab at home, which no one does at home,' Moghaddam previously said. Esmael Mehrabi and Lily Farhadpour holding a picture of directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who were banned from travelling to Berlin for the film premiere Getty The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran commented on the verdict: 'Artists in Iran endure significant hardships, including increasing censorship, arbitrary detentions and the constant threat of legal repercussions for expressing dissent through their work.' The 14-month sentence, which has been suspended for five years, comes after the global film community rallied in support of the directors with a petition whose signatories included Pedro Almodóvar, Juliette Binoche and the aforementioned Mohammad Rasoulof . Mohammad Rasoulof speaks to Euronews Culture Euronews Culture In our interview with Mohammad Rasoulof, he stated: 'I'd like to flag up the filmmakers of My Favourite Cake, Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who are undergoing all sorts of problems inside Iran. They are banned from leaving the country because of their films, and in fact, they are being investigated for similar charges for spreading prostitution and corruption on Earth, for instance. This atmosphere will be the cause of a series of new problems because in the world now, it's not possible to control content, like the Iranian regime does. The result of this is more and more repression, and acts of subversion will surface, as the government cannot control everything.' You can read the full interview here . In our review for My Favourite Cake , we wrote: 'My Favourite Cake is a gently subversive film that dares to pepper radicalism within a poignant tragicomedy. (...) Behind a seemingly harmless set up and a Linklater-ish second half lies messages of female empowerment that are not tolerated under the nation's repressive regime. Driven by two magnificent central performances, which make the allegorically loaded epilogue truly resonant, Moghaddam and Sanaeeh's film is a subtle but powerful snapshot of the harsh realities facing Iranian women, as well as a commentary about what could befall those daring to take control of their destinies. It's impressive and haunting in equal measure.'
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘My Favourite Cake' directors given suspended prison sentence in Iran for showing unveiled woman
Iranian directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha have been given a 14-month suspended jail sentence by an Iranian court on charges that include alleged production of obscene content in their Berlinale-premiering film My Favourite Cake – our joint Number 1 film of 2024 alongside Mohammad Rasoulof's Oscar nominated film . After months of interrogations and travel bans over the past two years — which prevented them from attending the 2024 Berlin premiere – Moghaddam and Sanaeeha had been charged with making a film labeled as 'obscene' and 'offending public morality.' They were also accused of 'propaganda against the regime' and other charges claiming the film was 'unlawfully' screened without the Iranian authorities' permits for distribution. The Iranian court also convicted My Favourite Cake producer Gholamreza Mousavi to the same sentence as the directors, which also includes a fine of 400 million Iranian Rials (€8,240). My Favourite Cake follows a lonely septuagenarian widow Mahin (Lily Farhadpour) in Tehran who rediscovers her desires in a country where women's rights are heavily restricted. 'We wanted to tell the story of the reality of our lives, which is about those forbidden things like singing, dancing, not wearing hijab at home, which no one does at home,' Moghaddam previously said. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran commented on the verdict: 'Artists in Iran endure significant hardships, including increasing censorship, arbitrary detentions and the constant threat of legal repercussions for expressing dissent through their work.' The 14-month sentence, which has been suspended for five years, comes after the global film community rallied in support of the directors with a petition whose signatories included Pedro Almodóvar, Juliette Binoche and the aforementioned Mohammad Rasoulof. In our interview with Mohammad Rasoulof, he stated: 'I'd like to flag up the filmmakers of My Favourite Cake, Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who are undergoing all sorts of problems inside Iran. They are banned from leaving the country because of their films, and in fact, they are being investigated for similar charges for spreading prostitution and corruption on Earth, for instance. This atmosphere will be the cause of a series of new problems because in the world now, it's not possible to control content, like the Iranian regime does. The result of this is more and more repression, and acts of subversion will surface, as the government cannot control everything.' You can read the full interview here. In our review for , we wrote: 'My Favourite Cake is a gently subversive film that dares to pepper radicalism within a poignant tragicomedy. (...) Behind a seemingly harmless set up and a Linklater-ish second half lies messages of female empowerment that are not tolerated under the nation's repressive regime. Driven by two magnificent central performances, which make the allegorically loaded epilogue truly resonant, Moghaddam and Sanaeeh's film is a subtle but powerful snapshot of the harsh realities facing Iranian women, as well as a commentary about what could befall those daring to take control of their destinies. It's impressive and haunting in equal measure.'
Euronews
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Global filmmaking community support Iranian directors before 'propaganda' trial starts in Iran
The global film community is showing support for Iranian directing duo Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha ahead of their trial over 'propaganda against the regime' allegations. After months of interrogations and travel bans over the past two years, Moghaddam and Sanaeeha are set to face Iran's Revolutionary Court on Saturday (1 March). The charges leveled against them concern the production and distribution of their Berlinale-premiering film My Favourite Cake – our joint Number 1 film of 2024 alongside Mohammad Rasoulof's now-Oscar nominated film The Seed of the Sacred Fig. The filmmaking duo's film follows a lonely septuagenarian widow Mahin (Lily Farhadpour) in Tehran who rediscovers her desires in a country where women's rights are heavily restricted. They are charged with making a film labeled as 'obscene' and 'offending public morality.' They are also accused of 'propaganda against the regime' and other charges claiming the film was 'unlawfully' screened without the Iranian authorities' permits for distribution. Signatories of the petition, launched by the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR), include Rasoulof, who fled Iran last year to avoid prosecution related to The Seed of the Sacred Fig — as well as Pedro Almodóvar, Juliette Binoche, Agnieszka Holland, Céline Sciamma, Joachim Trier, Hiam Abbas, the directors of the Berlin, Venice and Rotterdam, as well as the European Film Academy. The petition has gathered more than 3,200 signatures so far. It reads: We, the undersigned, call upon the Islamic Republic of Iran's authorities to immediately and unconditionally clear all the charges levelled at filmmakers Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha. After months of interrogation, and after continuous travel bans for the past two years, they are now due to appear in Iran's Revolutionary Court on March 1st, 2025 because of their Berlinale-awarded film My Favourite Cake, which has been labelled as "obscene", as "offending public morality", as "propaganda against the regime", and as 'unlawfully' screened without the authorities' permits for distribution. In the light of these persecutions, we stand uniformly by Maryam & Behtash and their freedom and right to create and to express themselves, just like any filmmaker and artist should be able to.' In our interview with Mohammad Rasoulof, he stated: 'I'd like to flag up the filmmakers of My Favourite Cake, Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who are undergoing all sorts of problems inside Iran. They are banned from leaving the country because of their films, and in fact, they are being investigated for similar charges for spreading prostitution and corruption on Earth, for instance. This atmosphere will be the cause of a series of new problems because in the world now, it's not possible to control content, like the Iranian regime does. The result of this is more and more repression, and acts of subversion will surface, as the government cannot control everything.' You can read the full interview here. In our review for My Favourite Cake, we wrote: 'My Favourite Cake is a gently subversive film that dares to pepper radicalism within a poignant tragicomedy. (...) Behind a seemingly harmless set up and a Linklater-ish second half lies messages of female empowerment that are not tolerated under the nation's repressive regime. Driven by two magnificent central performances, which make the allegorically loaded epilogue truly resonant, Moghaddam and Sanaeeh's film is a subtle but powerful snapshot of the harsh realities facing Iranian women, as well as a commentary about what could befall those daring to take control of their destinies. It's impressive and haunting in equal measure.'
