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Malay Mail
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
From prison to Palme d'Or: Jafar Panahi's triumphant return to Iran
PARIS, May 27 — Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi received a hero's welcome from supporters on his return to Tehran on Monday 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 in the early hours of Monday at Tehran's main international airport, named after the founder of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Panahi was 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 showed on social media. 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 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,' Naderi wrote. 'He arrived in Tehran early this morning' and 'has returned home,' French film producer Philippe Martin told AFP, citing his entourage. 'He has even learned that he has obtained a visa to go to a festival in Sydney in about ten days' time,' he said. The Sydney Film Festival has a retrospective of his work called 'Cinema in Rebellion'. 'Gesture of resistance' The warm welcome at the airport contrasted with the lukewarm reaction from Iranian state media and officials to the first Palme d'Or for an Iranian filmmaker since The Taste of Cherry by the late Abbas Kiarostami in 1997. While reported by state media including the IRNA news agency, Panahi's triumph has received only minimal coverage inside Iran and has also sparked a diplomatic row with France. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël 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 chargé 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 made a 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.' Fellow Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who presented his politically charged latest film The Seed of the Sacred Fig at the 2024 festival after fleeing Iran, paid tribute to Panahi. 'It won't be long before It Was Just an Accident reaches its primary audience: the people of Iran,' Rasoulof wrote on Instagram, adding that 'the decayed and hollow machinery of censorship under the Islamic Republic has been pushed back.' — AFP
Al Arabiya
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Arabiya
Filmmaker Panahi cheered on return to Iran after Cannes triumph
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi 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 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 news 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 Baghaei. 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.'
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."
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Iranian ‘My Favourite Cake' Filmmakers Sound Alarm Over Court Summons & Anonymous Death Threats
Iranian directors Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam have appealed for support after they received a court summons and anonymous death threats related to their film My Favourite Cake which world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2024. A heartwarming tale of love and loss and coming to terms with old age, My Favourite Cake stars Lily Farhadpour as a 70-year-old widow who reconnects with life's small pleasures in the face of solitude, following her husband's death. More from Deadline Rotterdam Fest Director Expresses Solidarity For 'The Seed Of The Sacred Fig' Actress Soheila Golestani Following Iran Travel Ban 'The Seed Of The Sacred Fig' Actress Soheila Golestani Barred From Leaving Iran To Serve On Rotterdam Jury Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Freed From Iranian Prison In a message posted on social media, Sanaeeha said that after several interrogation sessions related to the film at the security prosecutor's office for Iran's notorious Evin jail, he and Moghadam had been summoned for a hearing at a revolutionary court on March 1. The charges against them are: 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 and distribution license. The couple have also told friends that they have been receiving death threats from anonymous callers. My Favourite Cake has incurred the wrath of Iran's authoritarian Islamic Republic regime due to the fact that Farhadpour is shown without a headscarf, while her character is also seen seeking companionship with an equally lonely widower and drinking wine with him. The drama is among a growing number of underground features coming out of Iran in the wake of the 2022 Woman Life Freedom protests, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, in which filmmakers challenge the Islamic Republic's sexist rules around what women should wear and how they should act. These films are seen as a sign that regardless of the government's harsh crackdown and attempts to suppress the protests, something has changed in Iranian society for good in the wake of the Woman Life Freedom movement. The situation still remains extremely dangerous for filmmakers who stand-up to the regime with director Navid Mihandoust, for example, currently serving a three-and-a-half sentence on trumped up charges, related to his refusal to cooperate in a plot targeting U.S.-based Iranian activist journalist Masih Alinejad. Husband and wife team Sanaeeha and Moghadam were banned from travelling to Berlin for the premiere of My Favourite Cake, while Farhadpour and co-star Esmaeel Mehrabi were allowed to make the trip and held up photos of their absent directors at the press conference. Moghadam, who also holds Swedish nationality, and Sanaeeha were then stopped from travelling to Sweden last September, with security agencies confiscating their passports at Tehran airport. Farhadpour, who has also received a summons, has mounted a petition and campaign in support of the directors. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 2025 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Spirits, Tonys, Guilds & More How To Watch Sunday's 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' Online & On TV
Voice of America
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
Iran pardons journalists who covered woman's death that triggered protests
Iran's top judicial authority has pardoned two journalists who uncovered the death of a young woman in police custody, the judiciary's news outlet, Mizan, said Tuesday. The case triggered widespread protests in 2022. Journalists Elaheh Mohammadi and Niloofar Hamedi had been sentenced to 12 and 13 years in prison, respectively, by an Iranian Revolutionary Court in 2023 for their coverage of the death of Mahsa Amini. Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, died in 2022 while in the custody of Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women. The death of the 22-year-old sparked the nationwide 'Woman Life Freedom' uprising, which in turn prompted a harsh crackdown by Iranian authorities. The pardons of the two journalists were applied on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Mizan said. 'Following the approval by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of a list of pardons that was prepared by the judiciary's head, these individuals were pardoned,' Mizan said. Both journalists were temporarily released last year after spending 17 months behind bars and later acquitted of the charge of 'collaboration with the U.S.' in an appeals court. Other charges, such as 'colluding against national security' and 'propaganda against the regime,' remained. But the pardons mean those charges have now been cleared, and the legal cases against the journalists are now closed. The jailings of the two journalists underscores the poor state of press freedom in Iran. The country ranks among the worst jailers of journalists in the world, with at least 16 behind bars for their work as of early December 2024, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ. Iranian authorities detained at least 95 journalists in the wake of the nationwide protests following Amini's death, according to CPJ. In 2024, Iran ranked 176 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, where 180 shows the worst press freedom environment. Some information in this report came from Reuters.
