Iranian filmmaker flees to Europe after prison sentence ahead of Cannes premiere

After being sentenced to eight years in prison, the award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof says he's fled to Europe shortly ahead of the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his latest film.

"I arrived in Europe a few days ago after a long and complicated journey," Rasoulof said in a statement dated Sunday and distributed by press agents Monday.

Last week, Rasoulof's lawyer, Babak Paknia, told The Associated Press the director had been sentenced to eight years in prison, flogging, and property confiscation by the Islamic Republic. The attorney said the filmmaker was being punished for making films and signing statements.

Iranian authorities haven't yet acknowledged Rasoulof's sentence, and there has been no immediate comment on his departure. Rasoulof and other artists had co-signed a letter urging authorities to put down their weapons amid demonstrations over a 2022 building collapse that killed over 40 people in the southwestern city of Abadan.

Rasoulof, 51, is the latest artist targeted in a widening crackdown on all dissent in Iran following years of mass protests, including over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini. His 2020 film There Is No Evil won the Golden Bear prize at Berlin in 2020.

Rasoulof said the prison sentence came before he revealed his latest film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig. That film premieres in competition in Cannes on 24 May.

"Knowing that the news of my new film would be revealed very soon, I knew that without a doubt, a new sentence would be added to these eight years," said Rasoulof.

"I didn't have much time to make a decision. I had to choose between prison and leaving Iran. With a heavy heart, I chose exile. The Islamic Republic confiscated my passport in September 2017. Therefore, I had to leave Iran secretly."

Rasoulof said he strongly objected to his ruling but noted many others have been handed death sentences in the crackdown.

"The scope and intensity of repression has reached a point of brutality where people expect news of another heinous government crime every day," said Rasoulof. "The criminal machine of the Islamic Republic is continuously and systematically violating human rights."

Rasoulof is currently in an undisclosed location. It's unclear if he will attend the Cannes premiere of his film.

"We are very happy and much relieved that Mohammad has safely arrived in Europe after a dangerous journey," said Jean-Christophe Simon, chief executive of Films Boutique and Parallel45. "We hope he will be able to attend the Cannes premiere of 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' despite all attempts to prevent him from being there in person."

Shortly before Rasoulof's statement was released, Thierry Fremaux, Cannes' artistic director, said, "The real question is about his presence" when asked about The Seed of the Sacred Fig in a pre-festival press conference on Monday.

On an unprecedented scale, Iran's feminist-led uprisings galvanised Iranian public opinion like never before. To ensure the protests continue in momentum, artists in Iran and in the diaspora are using their pens to take down the sword#IranRevolution https://t.co/Hded2CvVja

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) September 16, 2023

"The festival speaks through films," said Fremaux. He described "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" as "how insidiously the Iranian dictatorship creeps into families."

Rasoulof also detailed the pressure put on his collaborators in the film. Some actors left Iran before wider awareness of the production, he said. Others have been interrogated and had their families summoned for questioning. Rasoulof said his cinematographer's offices were raided.

"Many people helped to make this film," he said. "My thoughts are with all of them, and I fear for their safety and well-being."