{"id":1477,"date":"2019-07-24T13:28:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T13:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1477"},"modified":"2019-07-24T13:28:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T13:28:00","slug":"mohammad-rasoulofs-films-were-banned-in-iran-now-hes-been-sentenced-to-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1477","title":{"rendered":"Mohammad Rasoulof\u2019s Films Were Banned in Iran, Now He\u2019s Been Sentenced to Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

\u201cWe have to pay a price, and every person will pay some price,\u201d says acclaimed filmmaker <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

July 24, 2019 \u2013 The sentencing of award-winning filmmaker\u00a0Mohammad Rasoulof\u00a0to one year in prison for the content of his films has highlighted the perilous political landscape independent artists must navigate in Iran.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIranian cinema has won international acclaim despite stifling censorship and the ongoing persecution of artists,\u201d said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).<\/p>\n

\u201cRasoulof\u2019s\u00a0only crime was pursuing an artistic vision that didn\u2019t support government narratives about Iranian culture and society,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Rasoulof was also banned from \u201cmembership in political and social parties and organizations\u201d for two years, he told CHRI on July 21, the day after he received the verdict.<\/p>\n

Since September 2017, Rasoulof has also been banned from leaving the country and making films.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe absurd sentence against Rasoulof reflects the high price independent filmmakers must pay for refusing to abide by the government\u2019s restrictive and arbitrary rules,\u201d said Ghaemi.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Job is to Tell Stories\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cStrangely, they\u2019re accusing me of \u2018propaganda against the state\u2019 for telling stories,\u201d Rasoulof told CHRI. \u201cNone of my films are political, they are social criticisms that have political repercussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of understanding the films, they are interpreting them as slander against the state,\u201d he added. \u201cI think intolerance and impatience toward criticism is reactionary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Independent filmmakers face enormous pressure from the Iranian government to refrain from producing work that is critical of state policies and officially sanctioned narratives on politics, culture and society.<\/p>\n

The government subjects all artists in the country to restrictive and arbitrary censorship policies administered by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and has a\u00a0documented history\u00a0of persecuting independent filmmakers who resist this pressure.<\/p>\n

Several directors have been sentenced to prison and had their\u00a0films banned\u00a0in Iran for failing to abide by these rules.<\/p>\n

In February 2016, Iranian-Kurdish documentary filmmaker\u00a0Keyvan Karimi\u00a0was sentenced to 223 lashes and one year in prison under the charge of \u201cinsulting the sacred.\u201d<\/p>\n

In October 2014, Iran\u2019s Parliamentary Committee for Cultural Affairs\u00a0called\u00a0on the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry to ban eight Iranian films that were allegedly pro-Green Movement, including \u201cI\u2019m Not Angry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March 2010, Rasoulof was prosecuted under the charges of \u201cassembly and collusion against national security\u201d and \u201cpropaganda against the state\u201d along with fellow prominent filmmaker\u00a0Jafar Panahi\u00a0and sentenced to six years in prison.<\/p>\n

Upon appeal, the sentence was reduced to one year in prison but was not enforced.<\/p>\n

Rasoulof was again blacklisted by the Iranian government after receiving international praise for his film, \u201cA Man of Integrity,\u201d\u00a0including the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2017\u00a0Cannes Film Festival.<\/p>\n

After returning from the Cannes Film Festival to Iran in September 2017, the authorities confiscated his passport and informed him that he was no longer allowed to make films<\/p>\n

The film, about a small-town goldfish farmer struggling to make ends meet against systematic corruption, was banned in the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n

Since 2017, he has been summoned and questioned numerous times by the Culture and Media Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn part of his ruling, the judge wrote that the defendant, me, has not made any films about the bravery of my nation,\u201d Rasoulof told CHRI, noting that he was paraphrasing the judge\u2019s words. \u201cThen he mentioned that I have been awarded by non-Iranian film festivals and that foreign audiences clapped for me; they are the enemies of the state and therefore I\u2019m an enemy of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rasoulof added that most\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0accusations\u00a0made against him in court\u00a0were focused on \u201cA Man of Integrity\u201d and another film he had made, \u201cManuscripts Don\u2019t Burn,\u201d in which he examined the Iranian government\u2019s persecution of members of the Baha\u2019i faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was questioned by investigators, I was asked about all my films,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir main argument was that I have blackened [the state] and that my criticisms are unhealthy and there\u2019s no hope in my films.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rasoulof continued: \u201cI asked the honorable judge, \u2018Have you watched my films?\u2019 He said, no\u2026 it was sufficient to read the assessment by the security agencies about me and listen to the answers I gave to his questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pessimism About Appeal Process<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking to CHRI, Rasoulof\u2019s lawyer, Nasser Zarafshan said his client\u2019s actions do not amount to \u201cpropaganda against the state,\u201d and that he would be filing an appeal against the recent verdict.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis verdict was based on Article 500\u00a0[of the\u00a0Islamic Penal Code],\u201d he added. \u201cThe law says \u2018propaganda against the state\u2019 are actions by an individual against the Islamic Republic, but challenging the officials and institutions within the framework of the Islamic Republic is not propaganda against the state. It\u2019s criticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rasoulof told CHRI he was \u201cpessimistic\u201d about the fairness of the appeal process and \u201cabout being heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the judicial system of the Islamic Republic is concerned about protecting the state, rather than enforcing the law,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t do anything but watch this injustice with sadness and resignation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rasoulof continued: \u201cI think I have to accept that in order to see changes and reform in the structure of the country, we have to pay a price and every person will pay some price. I, too, have no choice but to pay a price if I want to continue making independent films.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July 24, 2019 \u2013 The sentencing of award-winning filmmaker\u00a0Mohammad Rasoulof\u00a0to one year in prison for the content of his films has highlighted the perilous political landscape independent artists must navigate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[486],"class_list":["post-1477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","tag-mohammad-rasoulof"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1478,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1477\/revisions\/1478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}