Iran has sentenced Palme d'Or-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison and a travel ban over "propaganda activities" against the country, his lawyer said.
The sentence includes a two-year travel ban and prohibition of Panahi from membership in any political or social groups, lawyer Mostafa Nili told French news agency AFP on Monday, adding that they would file an appeal.
Nili said the charges against Panahi were engaging in "propaganda activities" against the state but did not elaborate. "Mr. Panahi is outside Iran right now," he added.
Panahi, 65, won the Cannes Film Festival's top prize this year for It Was Just an Accident, a film partially inspired by Panahi's own time behind bars.
His camera follows the heated debates of five ordinary Iranians, who shared the same prison interrogator, over what fate they want for their former jailer, who has been kidnapped by a garage owner.
Should they kill him to avenge the humiliations they suffered, or refuse to stoop to their torturer's level?
A significant portion of the plot unfolds in a van, which also served as a hideout for the film crew. Outdoor scenes were filmed in deserted areas and quiet neighborhoods.
Iranian filmmakers, prominent media figures and celebrities are closely monitored in Iran and their work reviewed for content deemed critical of the Islamic republic.
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Twice in jail
Panahi is no stranger to the Iranian justice system, despite winning prizes in a host of international festivals.
In 2010, he was banned from making movies and from leaving the country after supporting mass anti-government protests a year earlier and making a series of films that critiqued the state of modern Iran.
Convicted of "propaganda against the system", he was sentenced to six years in jail but served only two months behind bars before being released on bail.
A year after being handed a 20-year ban on filmmaking he dispatched a documentary with the title This is Not a Film to the Cannes Festival on a flash drive stashed in a cake.
His 2015 movie Taxi featured him acting as a taxi driver and was shot entirely in a car.
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In 2022, he was arrested in connection with protests by a group of filmmakers but was released nearly seven months later.
Since his win in Cannes, where he was able to receive the prize in person, he set off on a tour of the United States visiting Los Angeles, New York and Telluride to promote his latest Oscar-hopeful movie.
The film has been selected by France as its official nomination for the Academy Awards, and is widely expected to make the shortlist for the Best International Feature at the gala event in March.
The fact that post-production for It Was Just an Accident was done by a French company allowed France to effectively claim Panahi's film as its own in the Oscar race, under rules set by the Academy.
Resonate with audiences
But Panahi, 65, says he would like to see those rules changed to allow dissidents like him who are censored by Tehran to represent their homeland.
"I really wanted it to be for my own country, but when an oppressed society exists, well, some difficulties do arise," he told AFP during an interview in Los Angeles.
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The system has faced increasing criticism and public protests in recent years, particularly in the face of rising authoritarianism.
"This decreases and undermines the independence of filmmakers," said Panahi.
The complaint is not new. While film festivals in Cannes, Venice, and Berlin make their own choices for films from around the world, the Oscars require each country's authorities to nominate a candidate for the Best International Feature Film award.
"Iranian cinema is humanist cinema, and it has always been able to resonate with audiences around the world," he said, recalling the Oscars awarded to Asghar Farhadi's A Separation and The Salesman.
(with AFP)
