Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to eight years, flees to Europe

Mohammad Rasoulof, the Iranian director behind The Seed of the Sacred Fig, is set to premiere his film at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2024. However, he’s just been handed an eight-year prison sentence along with flogging, fines, and property confiscation. His lawyer, Babak Paknia, shared this news on X, explaining that the charges relate to signing statements and making films deemed a threat to national security. Iranian authorities previously attempted to withdraw Rasoulof's film from Cannes and restricted key crew members from leaving the country. Paknia told the Guardian that Rasoulof faces accusations of filming without a permit and actresses not adhering to hijab laws. This isn’t his first encounter with censorship; he was jailed from July 2022 to February 2023 for criticizing civil rights issues online. In 2017, he got a one-year sentence and a two-year travel ban for his award-winning film, A Man of Integrity. On May 14, CNN reported that he had fled to Europe, where he posted a video condemning the Iranian regime, declaring, "From today, I am a resident of cultural Iran."