The Latest Breaking News from Jafar Panahi

Competition slots for jailed Iranian director Jafar Panahi, Martin McDonagh and Darren Aronofsky, while actors on show range from past winner Blanchett to Bill Nighy and Harry Styles

Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” the Marilyn Monroe drama “Blonde,” Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” and Luca Guadigino’s “Bones and All,” with Timothée Chalamet, will all have their world premieres in competition at the Venice International Film Festival this fall

The Iranian director was arrested last week for criticising the government after enquiring about the earlier arrest of fellow film-maker Mohammad Rasoulof

Jafar Panahi was handed the sentence for supporting demonstrations and ‘propaganda against the establishment’ in 2010.

Iran’s judiciary has ordered one of the country’s leading filmmakers to serve out a six-year prison sentence from a decade ago that had never been enforced, as the government seeks to silence criticism amid growing economic turmoil and political pressure

Award-winning dissident Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi, arrested last week in Tehran, must serve a six-year sentence previously handed to him in 2010, the judicial authority announced Tuesday. Panahi, 62, has won a number of awards at international festivals for films that have critiqued modern Iran, including the top prize in…

France on Friday expressed deep concern at the "arbitrary" arrests of three Iranian filmmakers, including international prize-winners Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof. Panahi and Rasoulof were "arbitrarily arrested" earlier this month along with Mostafa Aleahmad, the French foreign ministry said. France is "very concerned by these arrests and those of…

Iranian renowned film director Jafar Panahi described his arrest by authorities last Monday as “theft” and “kidnapping.” In his first phone call with his wife, Tahira Saidi, after he was transferred to Iran's notorious Evin Prison, Panahi said that prison officials did not allow him access to medical services. His…

The Venice film festival called Tuesday for the "immediate release" of award-winning dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi and fellow directors Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Aleahmad. On Monday, Cannes film festival organisers also condemned their arrest.