Latest news with #MahsaAmini
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Iran's Palme d'Or-winning director cheered as he arrives home
An Iranian filmmaker has been cheered at home after winning Cannes Film Festival's top prize. Jafar Panahi touched down in Tehran's international airport on Monday, two days after his Palme d'Or victory for revenge thriller It Was Just Accident. Panahi has been imprisoned multiple times in Iran, most recently for protesting the detention of filmmakers criticising the authorities. This was his first visit to Cannes in 15 years, where his films have been shown in his absence due to a travel ban. His winning film depicted torture in Iranian jails and ignited a back-and-forth between French and Iranian officials. The celebrated director, who now holds prizes from Europe's three major film festivals, was seen grinning and holding a bouquet of flowers as he embraced his friends. Among the crowd was fellow Iranian film director Medhi Nadari, who shared footage of the moment on Instagram calling Panahi's return "history-making". One person was heard shouting "woman, life, freedom" as Panahi passed through the airport, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency. The phrase was the slogan for protests that broke out across Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022. In his acceptance speech at Cannes, Panahi said, "What's most important now is our country and the freedom of our country," and called for Iranians to "join forces". "No-one should dare tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do, or what we should not do," he said. The film's win has given rise to a diplomatic row between French and Iranian officials, after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot dubbed it "a gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime's oppression" in a post on X. IRNA, Iran's state media, reported that a French diplomat had been summoned in Tehran so that it could formally protest the comments as "insulting and unfounded". Returning to Tehran fulfils a pledge Panahi made while speaking to reporters in Cannes. "As soon as I finish my work here I will go back," he said, adding "I will ask myself what's my next film going to be." Iranian director speaks out after Cannes triumph Iran summons French envoy over 'insulting' Cannes remarks
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Risking imprisonment, Palme d'Or winner returns home
An Iranian filmmaker has been cheered at home after winning Cannes Film Festival's top Panahi touched down in Tehran's international airport on Monday, two days after his Palme d'Or victory for revenge thriller It Was Just Accident. Panahi has been imprisoned multiple times in Iran, most recently for protesting the detention of filmmakers criticising the authorities. This was his first visit to Cannes in 15 years, where his films have been shown in his absence due to a travel ban. His winning film depicted torture in Iranian jails and ignited a back-and-forth between French and Iranian officials. The celebrated director, who now holds prizes from Europe's three major film festivals, was seen grinning and holding a bouquet of flowers as he embraced his the crowd was fellow Iranian film director Medhi Nadari, who shared footage of the moment on Instagram calling Panahi's return "history-making".One person was heard shouting "woman, life, freedom" as Panahi passed through the airport, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency. The phrase was the slogan for protests that broke out across Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in his acceptance speech at Cannes, Panahi said, "What's most important now is our country and the freedom of our country," and called for Iranians to "join forces". "No-one should dare tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do, or what we should not do," he said. The film's win has given rise to a diplomatic row between French and Iranian officials, after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot dubbed it "a gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime's oppression" in a post on Iran's state media, reported that a French diplomat had been summoned in Tehran so that it could formally protest the comments as "insulting and unfounded".Returning to Tehran fulfils a pledge Panahi made while speaking to reporters in Cannes."As soon as I finish my work here I will go back," he said, adding "I will ask myself what's my next film going to be."
CBC
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
These women are defying Iran's hijab laws — despite fear of reprisal
The face of Tehran has been undergoing an extraordinary transformation in recent months, some neighbourhoods seeming to channel Beirut as much as the capital of the Islamic Republic where headscarves — or hijabs — have been mandatory for women for 45 years. Less than three years after the brutal crackdown on the protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody for an alleged dress code violation, a growing number of women are daring to bare their heads in public. They're not a majority, but on any given day in north Tehran's popular Tajrish Square, you'll find a mixture of women with and without headscarves. Some don't even wear them around their necks anymore, where they could be pulled up quickly if the decision to go bare-headed is challenged. "We young people have decided to live the way we like," said Laylah, a 30-year-old self-employed woman out shopping with her mother. The authorities "need to understand that we want to be free, comfortable and liberated." Like all the women interviewed in this story who were not wearing a headscarf, Laylah did not provide her last name for fear of repercussions for defying her country's hijab laws. A divided perspective on change Some analysts believe the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement sparked by Amini's death in 2022 is here to stay. That the number of women — young and old — defying the hijab law is so great the regime will be unable to reverse it. Others say Iran's ruling clerics are allowing what's happening to continue because it suits their purposes at this time, noting that stories like this one, which highlight the seemingly dramatic change on the streets, actually distract from the draconian and often sinister ways the state continues to punish women who disobey. "I think that the authorities, frankly, are getting more clever about how they carry out their reprisals," said Nassim Papayianni, a senior Iran campaigner with Amnesty International based in London. The white vans used by Iran's controversial morality police are still visible on the streets of Tehran. But on a recent — and rare — reporting trip to the city, our crew didn't witness police make any arrests or bully those women not wearing the hijab. "What they're doing is just trying to adapt in a system that they think won't draw as much international attention," Papayianni said. "I think they know if they arrest women's rights defenders or women and girls for defying compulsory veiling that there will be a lot of international attention on that." The methods regularly used by authorities to enforce a dress code in place since just after the 1979 Islamic Revolution range from financial penalties to lashings or jail terms. And just because women are choosing to defy the law doesn't mean they are not afraid of repercussions. "I am afraid; I have concerns," said Saha, a 33-year-old human resources worker wearing her long curly hair uncovered while out in public. "But I'm doing this because I want [any future child of mine] not to have the same fear as I do," she said, speaking in Farsi. The feeling on the street is different now, she said, because more men are supporting women in these actions — as are older generations. "My mother is quite religious," she said. "She observes the hijab dress code. But at a protest she was standing next to me." Saha said she'd already been arrested once, after being photographed driving her car while not wearing a headscarf. New surveillance techniques Surveillance methods employed by state security forces are growing increasingly sophisticated. A United Nations report released in March found that drones, facial recognition technology and security cameras were being employed to monitor women's compliance. There is also an app the public can apply to the police to use that allows approved citizens to report on women deemed to be flouting the rules, said the report, authored by the Independent International Fact-finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran. The same body determined in 2024 that the state was responsible for the "physical violence" that led to Amini's death in 2022. There are other societal pressures at play. Many restaurants in Tehran put up signs requesting that women comply with headscarf rules, reminding customers that the restaurant could be closed down if women refused. "They're trying to pull in, you know, private business owners to essentially police women's bodies," said Amnesty's Papayianni. One woman who was happy to talk to a foreign news crew off the record said she couldn't have her picture taken without a headscarf for fear it would ruin her chances for a job in the public school system. Another woman said she didn't want any photos taken that "the mullahs" — the Islamic clergy leaders — could use to harass her. Stiffer penalties Last fall, Iran's parliament approved a new hijab and chastity law that would impose even tougher punishments on women violating dress codes: steeper fines and prison sentences of up to 15 years. So far, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has shied away from putting the legislation forward with his signature. He campaigned for last year's presidential election with promises to ease restrictions on women. But conservative hardliners close to Iran's ultimate power, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been pushing for the legislation to be implemented. "Unfortunately [unveiled women] have been influenced by Western culture," said Fatemeh Hojat, a 43-year-old mother wearing a full chador. "And the fact that the hijab law is not implemented properly in the country has exacerbated this issue," she said. WATCH | Mahsa Amini's death in custody sparked worldwide protest: Canada's Iranian community permeated with sense of uncertainty 3 years ago Duration 5:06 Members of Canada's largest Iranian community react to the ongoing violence in Iran as security forces intensify their crackdown. The latest reports say at least 13 people have been killed in the Kurdish region of Iran as security forces use live ammunition to quell anti-government demonstrations that started following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September. The undercurrent of fear that many of the women ignoring the hijab laws say they still carry with them could suggest a calm before the proverbial storm. Some analysts say the regime isn't cracking down harder on these daily acts of defiance because, right now, it can't afford the mass protests that might spark. Many of Iran's regional allies or proxies have suffered hits over the past year, just as Washington is exerting pressure on Iran in pursuit of a nuclear agreement to its liking. But there's also no doubt that the actions of an increasing number of Iranian women are seen as a challenge to Iran's theocracy. And periods of perceived reform or liberalism in the past have often been met with violent crackdowns. Laylah from Tajrish Square admits it's a possibility. "Good things will happen again," she said. "If they want to take away our freedom, we will try again to win freedom [...] and to live the way we want to live."
The National
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Iran spars with France over dissident filmmaker's Cannes triumph
Iran hit out at France on Sunday for praising a dissident filmmaker whose tale of revenge against the Iranian state triumphed at the Cannes Film Festival. Jafar Panahi, a former prisoner in Iran, won the top prize in Cannes – the Palme d'Or – for his film It Was Just an Accident, which depicts five Iranians confronting a man they believed tortured them in jail. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot praised the film as a "gesture of resistance against the Iranian regime's oppression". Tehran is under widespread sanctions for cracking down on dissent, most notably after anti-regime protests that followed the 2022 death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. That led to Iran's Foreign Ministry summoning France's top diplomat in Tehran on Sunday, state news agency IRNA reported. "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," it said. The state news agency had previously hailed Panahi's victory as having "made history for Iranian cinema", without delving into the film's contents. It was the first Iranian win in the Palme d'Or since Abbas Kiarostami received the honour for Taste of Cherry in 1997. Panahi, 64, was detained in Tehran's Evin prison for almost seven months on charges of spreading anti-government propaganda. He was released in 2023 two days after beginning a hunger strike. Panahi won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2000 for his filmThe Circle. In 2015, he won the Golden Bear in Berlin forTaxi Tehran, and in 2018, he won the Best Screenplay prize at Cannes forThree Faces. His latest film depicts an Iranian torture victim who believes he has encountered Peg Leg, a one-legged state interrogator responsible for mistreating him and many others. The National's film review described it as a production that "rages against the Iranian state".
Sky News
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News
Cannes: Dissident Iranian director wins Palme d'Or at film festival
Dissident Iranian director Jafar Pahani - who has been arrested several times in Iran for his filmmaking - has won the prestigious Palme d'Or accolade at the 78th Cannes Film Festival. The 64-year-old, who was banned from filmmaking in Iran, premiered his political thriller It Was Just an Accident on 20 May. The film was one of 22 competing for the top prize - and was up against well-known directors including Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, and Ari Aster. Inspired by his own experiences in prison, the film tells the story of a released dissident who kidnaps a man who resembles someone who tortured him in prison. Soon, the protagonist questions whether more violence is the right approach to ensure justice. The filmmaker, whose appearance at the festival was his first in 15 years due to a travel ban, used his acceptance speech to speak out against the regime. He said: "Hoping that we will reach a day when no one will tell us what to wear or not wear, what to do or not do", in seeming reference to Iran's strict modesty rules for women. The 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was in the custody of Iran's morality police for allegedly violating modesty laws, led to the country's largest civil unrest since the 1979 revolution. The film, like the rest of his published works since 2010, was shot in secret. The director told Reuters he vows to return to his home country after the festival - despite the risk of being prosecuted. He said: "Win or not, I was going to go back either way. Don't be afraid of challenges." Pahani has now won the top prizes at all three major European festivals - after winning the Golden Lion at Venice for The Circle in 2000, and Berlin's Golden Bear for Taxi in 2015.
