Jafar Panahi
Encyclopedia
Jafar Panahi is an Iranian filmmaker and is one of the most influential filmmakers in the Iranian New Wave movement. He has gained recognition from film theorists and critics worldwide and received numerous awards including the Golden Lion
at the Venice Film Festival
and the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
On 20 December 2010, Jafar Panahi was handed a six-year jail sentence and a 20-year ban on making or directing any movies, writing screenplays, giving any form of interview with Iranian or foreign media as well as leaving the country.
, Iran
. He was ten years old when he wrote his first book, which subsequently won the first prize in a literary competition. At the same age, he became familiar with film making. He shot films on 8mm film, acting in one and assisting in the making of another. Later, he took up photography. During his military service
, Panahi served in the Iran–Iraq War (1980–88) and made a documentary about the war during this period.
Panahi studied film directing at Iran Broadcasting College
in Tehran
, graduating in 1988. After graduating, Panahi made several films for Iranian television and was the assistant director of Abbas Kiarostami
's film Through the Olive Trees
(1994). Since that time, he has directed several films and won numerous awards in international film festivals.
. This film won a Camera d'Or
at the Cannes Film Festival
. His second feature film, The Mirror
, received the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno Film Festival
.
His most notable offering to date has been The Circle (2000
), which criticized the treatment of women under Iran's Islamist regime. Jafar Panahi won the Golden Lion
, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival
for The Circle, which was named FIPRESCI
Film of the Year at the San Sebastián International Film Festival
, and appeared on Top 10 lists of critics worldwide. Panahi also directed Crimson Gold
in 2003, which brought him the Un Certain Regard
Jury Award at the Cannes Film Festival. During that time Panahi was detained in the JFK airport, New York, while taking a connection from Hong Kong to Montevideo, after refusing to be photographed and fingerprinted by the immigration police. After being chained and waiting for several hours, he was finally sent back to Hong Kong.
Panahi's Offside (the story of girls who disguise themselves as boys to be able to watch a football match) was selected for competition in the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, where he was awarded with the Silver Bear (Jury Grand Prix).
, an Iranian blogger and human rights activist writing from inside Iran, reported that Panahi was arrested at the cemetery in Tehran where mourners had gathered near the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan
. He was later released, but his passport was revoked and he was banned from leaving the country. In February 2010 his request to travel to the 60th Berlin Film Festival to participate in the panel discussion on "Iranian Cinema: Present and Future. Expectations inside and outside of Iran" was denied.
On 1 March 2010, Panahi was arrested again. He was taken from his home along with his wife Tahereh Saidi, daughter Solmaz Panahi and 15 of his friends by plainclothes officers to Evin Prison
. Most were released 48 hours later, Mohammad Rasoulof and Mehdi Pourmoussa on 17 March 2010, but Panahi remains in ward 209 inside Evin Prison
. Panahi's arrest was confirmed by the government, but charges were not specified.
The following people and organisations have called for his release:
France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and minister of culture and communications Frédéric Mitterrand
, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle
, Canadian government, Finnish Green MP Rosa Meriläinen
and Human Rights Watch
have condemned the arrest.
On 8 March 2010, a group of well-known Iranian producers, directors and actors visited Panahi's family to show their support and call for his immediate release. After more than a week in captivity, Panahi was finally allowed to call his family. On 18 March 2010 he has been allowed to have visitors, including his family and lawyer. Iran's culture minister said on 14 April 2010 that Panahi was arrested because he "was making a film against the regime and it was about the events that followed election." But in an interview with AFP in mid-March, Panahi's wife, Tahereh Saeedi, denied that he was making a film about post-election events, saying: "The film was being shot inside the house and had nothing to do with the regime."
In mid-March, 50 Iranian directors, actors and artists signed a petition seeking Panahi's release. American film directors, Paul Thomas Anderson
, Joel & Ethan Coen, Francis Ford Coppola
, Jonathan Demme
, Robert De Niro
, Curtis Hanson
, Jim Jarmusch
, Ang Lee
, Richard Linklater
, Terrence Malick
, Michael Moore
, Robert Redford
, Martin Scorsese
, James Schamus
, Paul Schrader
, Steven Soderbergh
, Steven Spielberg
, Oliver Stone
and Frederick Wiseman
, signed a letter on 30 April 2010 urging Panahi's release. The petition ends with “Like artists everywhere, Iran’s filmmakers should be celebrated, not censored, repressed, and imprisoned.” He was named a member of the jury at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival
, but because of his imprisonment he could not attend and his chair was symbolically kept empty.
On May 18, 2010, J. Hoberman at VoiceFilm.com reported that an unconfirmed announcement indicated the Iranian regime would release Panahi to coincide with the public screening of another Iranian film at the festival, Abbas Kiarostami
's Certified Copy
. However, it was instead announced at the screening that Panahi's prison sentence had been extended. Hoberman reported that the leading lady of Kiarostami's film, Juliette Binoche
, cried upon hearing the news.
On May 18, 2010, Panahi sent a message to Abbas Baktiari, director of the Pouya Cultural Center, an Iranian-French cultural organization in Paris. Panahi wrote that he has been mistreated in prison and his family threatened, and as a result has begun a hunger strike.
On 25 May 2010, Panahi was released on $
200,000 bail.
On 12 November 2010, Panahi was back in court for his hearing. In a lengthy statement he defended himself and told the court that "I am Iranian and I will remain in Iran."
On 20 December 2010 Panahi, after being prosecuted for “assembly and colluding with the intention to commit crimes against the country’s national security and propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” was handed a six-year jail sentence and a 20-year ban on making or directing any movies, writing screenplays, giving any form of interview with Iranian or foreign media as well as leaving the country.
On 23 December 2010 Amnesty International
announced that it was mobilizing an online petition spearheaded by Paul Haggis
and Nazanin Boniadi
and signed by Sean Penn
, Martin Scorsese
, Harvey Weinstein
and others to protest the imprisonment of Panahi.
Cine Foundation International
, a "non-profit film company and human rights NGO aiming to 'empower open consciousness through cinema'" announced on 3 January 2011 that they are launching a campaign of protest films and public actions calling for the release of Panahi. "The campaign will include protest films that speak to human rights issues in Iran and throughout the world, six of which are commissioned feature-length, plus twenty shorts. Participating filmmakers may act anonymously or through pseudonyms since voicing their stories can be dangerous. The films, which will address themes of nation, identity, self, spiritual culture, censorship and imprisonment, will be aimed for public, web and various exhibition media". Later in January, CFI deployed a video protest mechanism called WHITE MEADOWS (named for the Mohammad Rasoulof film, The White Meadows
, which was edited by Panahi) and developed by Ericson deJesus (of Yahoo!
and frog design) at the request of the foundation. The video mechanism "allow(s) anyone in the world to record a short video statement about Panahi and Rasoulof. There will be an ESCAPE button at top, allowing quick exit for those in countries where recording a statement would be dangerous. There will an option to have the screen black, and soon, voice distortion. The video statements will be recorded as mp4s, giving them maximum transmedia capacity, which essentially makes them broadcastable from any device that can show video". Users can also use the mechanism to comment on how they would "like to see as an international response by the film industry", comment on the state of human rights in general, or to "report a human rights abuse to the world".
In Spring 2011, Boston
's American Repertory Theater and System of a Down
's Serj Tankian
dedicated their production of Prometheus Bound
to Panahi and seven other activists, stating in program notes that "by singing the story of Prometheus
, the God who defied the tyrant Zeus
by giving the human race both fire and art, this production hopes to give a voice to those currently being silenced or endangered by modern-day oppressors".
. Jake Wilson describes his films as connected by a "tension between documentary immediacy and a set of strictly defined formal parameters" in addition to "overtly expressed anger at the restrictions that Iranian society imposes". His film Offside is so ensconced in the reality that it was actually filmed in part during the event it dramatizes – the Iran
-Bahrain
qualifying match for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
.
Where Panahi differs from his fellow realist filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami
, is in the explicitness of his social critique. Stephen Teo writes that
Panahi says that his style can be described as "humanitarian events interpreted in a poetic and artistic way". He says "In a world where films are made with millions of dollars, we made a film about a little girl who wants to buy a fish for less than a dollar (in The White Balloon) – this is what we're trying to show."
In an interview with Anthony Kaufman, Panahi said: "I was very conscious of not trying to play with people's emotions; we were not trying to create tear-jerking scenes. So it engages people's intellectual side. But this is with assistance from the emotional aspect and a combination of the two."
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
and the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
On 20 December 2010, Jafar Panahi was handed a six-year jail sentence and a 20-year ban on making or directing any movies, writing screenplays, giving any form of interview with Iranian or foreign media as well as leaving the country.
Early life
Panahi was born in MianehMianeh, Iran
Meyaneh is a city in and the capital of Meyaneh County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 87,385, in 22,728 families....
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. He was ten years old when he wrote his first book, which subsequently won the first prize in a literary competition. At the same age, he became familiar with film making. He shot films on 8mm film, acting in one and assisting in the making of another. Later, he took up photography. During his military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
, Panahi served in the Iran–Iraq War (1980–88) and made a documentary about the war during this period.
Panahi studied film directing at Iran Broadcasting College
Iran Broadcasting College
- External links :*...
in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, graduating in 1988. After graduating, Panahi made several films for Iranian television and was the assistant director of Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
's film Through the Olive Trees
Through the Olive Trees
Through the Olive Trees is a 1994 film directed and written by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, set in earthquake-ravaged Northern Iran....
(1994). Since that time, he has directed several films and won numerous awards in international film festivals.
Films
Panahi's first feature film came in 1995, entitled White BalloonWhite Balloon
The White Balloon is a 1995 Iranian film directed by Jafar Panahi, with a screenplay by Abbas Kiarostami. It was Panahi's feature-film debut as director. The film received many strong critical reviews and won numerous awards in the international film fairs around the world including the Prix de...
. This film won a Camera d'Or
Caméra d'Or
The Caméra d'Or is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections ....
at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. His second feature film, The Mirror
The Mirror (1997 film)
The Mirror is a 1997 Iranian film directed by Jafar Panahi, about a little girl trying to find her way home from school.-Plot:Mina, a young girl, finds her mother has failed to pick her up from school, so she decides to walk home on her own. The movie is about her endeavor to find her way home...
, received the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno Film Festival
Locarno International Film Festival
The Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
.
His most notable offering to date has been The Circle (2000
2000 in film
The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
), which criticized the treatment of women under Iran's Islamist regime. Jafar Panahi won the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
for The Circle, which was named FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Film of the Year at the San Sebastián International Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
, and appeared on Top 10 lists of critics worldwide. Panahi also directed Crimson Gold
Crimson Gold
Crimson Gold is a 2003 Iranian film directed by Jafar Panahi, and written by Abbas Kiarostami. The film was never distributed in Iranian theatres, because it was considered too "dark"...
in 2003, which brought him the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
Jury Award at the Cannes Film Festival. During that time Panahi was detained in the JFK airport, New York, while taking a connection from Hong Kong to Montevideo, after refusing to be photographed and fingerprinted by the immigration police. After being chained and waiting for several hours, he was finally sent back to Hong Kong.
Panahi's Offside (the story of girls who disguise themselves as boys to be able to watch a football match) was selected for competition in the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, where he was awarded with the Silver Bear (Jury Grand Prix).
Imprisonment and international response
On 30 July 2009, Mojtaba SaminejadMojtaba Saminejad
Mojtaba Saminejad is an Iranian blogger and writer. He studied journalism at the Central Tehran Branch of Islamic Azad University.He is the president of Shahr-e Khorshid publications and editor of Ferdowsi magazine.-Activities:...
, an Iranian blogger and human rights activist writing from inside Iran, reported that Panahi was arrested at the cemetery in Tehran where mourners had gathered near the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan
Death of Neda Agha-Soltan
Footage of the death of Neda Agha-Soltan drew international attention after she was killed during the 2009 Iranian election protests. Her death was captured on video by bystanders and broadcast over the Internet and the video became a rallying point for the opposition...
. He was later released, but his passport was revoked and he was banned from leaving the country. In February 2010 his request to travel to the 60th Berlin Film Festival to participate in the panel discussion on "Iranian Cinema: Present and Future. Expectations inside and outside of Iran" was denied.
On 1 March 2010, Panahi was arrested again. He was taken from his home along with his wife Tahereh Saidi, daughter Solmaz Panahi and 15 of his friends by plainclothes officers to Evin Prison
Evin Prison
Evin House of Detention is a prison in Iran, located in Evin, northwestern Tehran. It is noted for its political prisoners' wing, where prisoners have been held both before and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution...
. Most were released 48 hours later, Mohammad Rasoulof and Mehdi Pourmoussa on 17 March 2010, but Panahi remains in ward 209 inside Evin Prison
Evin Prison
Evin House of Detention is a prison in Iran, located in Evin, northwestern Tehran. It is noted for its political prisoners' wing, where prisoners have been held both before and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution...
. Panahi's arrest was confirmed by the government, but charges were not specified.
The following people and organisations have called for his release:
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and Turkish Cinema Council.
France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)
Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs ), is France's foreign affairs ministry, with the headquarters located on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris close to the National Assembly of France. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the government of France is the cabinet minister responsible for...
and minister of culture and communications Frédéric Mitterrand
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, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle
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Guido Westerwelle [] is a German liberal politician, who, since 28 October 2009, has been serving as the Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and who was Vice Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011. He is the first openly gay person to hold either of those positions...
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and Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
have condemned the arrest.
On 8 March 2010, a group of well-known Iranian producers, directors and actors visited Panahi's family to show their support and call for his immediate release. After more than a week in captivity, Panahi was finally allowed to call his family. On 18 March 2010 he has been allowed to have visitors, including his family and lawyer. Iran's culture minister said on 14 April 2010 that Panahi was arrested because he "was making a film against the regime and it was about the events that followed election." But in an interview with AFP in mid-March, Panahi's wife, Tahereh Saeedi, denied that he was making a film about post-election events, saying: "The film was being shot inside the house and had nothing to do with the regime."
In mid-March, 50 Iranian directors, actors and artists signed a petition seeking Panahi's release. American film directors, Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He has written and directed five feature films: Hard Eight , Boogie Nights , Magnolia , Punch-Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood...
, Joel & Ethan Coen, Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
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Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
, Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson
Curtis Lee Hanson is an American film director, film producer and screenwriter. His directing work includes The Hand That Rocks the Cradle , L.A...
, Jim Jarmusch
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Ang Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy...
, Richard Linklater
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, Terrence Malick
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Terrence Frederick Malick is a U.S. film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning almost four decades, Malick has directed five feature films....
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Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
, Martin Scorsese
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Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, James Schamus
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James Schamus is an award-winning screenwriter The Ice Storm and producer Brokeback Mountain, and is CEO of Focus Features, the motion picture production, financing, and worldwide distribution company whose films have included Lost in Translation, Milk, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The...
, Paul Schrader
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Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and former film critic. Apart from his credentials as a director, Schrader is most notably known for his screenplays for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Raging Bull....
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Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
and Frederick Wiseman
Frederick Wiseman
Frederick Wiseman is an American documentary filmmaker. He came to documentary filmmaking after first being trained as a lawyer...
, signed a letter on 30 April 2010 urging Panahi's release. The petition ends with “Like artists everywhere, Iran’s filmmakers should be celebrated, not censored, repressed, and imprisoned.” He was named a member of the jury at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, but because of his imprisonment he could not attend and his chair was symbolically kept empty.
On May 18, 2010, J. Hoberman at VoiceFilm.com reported that an unconfirmed announcement indicated the Iranian regime would release Panahi to coincide with the public screening of another Iranian film at the festival, Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
's Certified Copy
Certified Copy (film)
Certified Copy is a 2010 film by Iranian writer and director Abbas Kiarostami, starring Juliette Binoche and the British opera singer William Shimell, in his first film role. The film is set in Tuscany, and focuses on a British writer and a French antiques dealer, whose relationship undergoes an...
. However, it was instead announced at the screening that Panahi's prison sentence had been extended. Hoberman reported that the leading lady of Kiarostami's film, Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
, cried upon hearing the news.
On May 18, 2010, Panahi sent a message to Abbas Baktiari, director of the Pouya Cultural Center, an Iranian-French cultural organization in Paris. Panahi wrote that he has been mistreated in prison and his family threatened, and as a result has begun a hunger strike.
On 25 May 2010, Panahi was released on $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
200,000 bail.
On 12 November 2010, Panahi was back in court for his hearing. In a lengthy statement he defended himself and told the court that "I am Iranian and I will remain in Iran."
On 20 December 2010 Panahi, after being prosecuted for “assembly and colluding with the intention to commit crimes against the country’s national security and propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” was handed a six-year jail sentence and a 20-year ban on making or directing any movies, writing screenplays, giving any form of interview with Iranian or foreign media as well as leaving the country.
On 23 December 2010 Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
announced that it was mobilizing an online petition spearheaded by Paul Haggis
Paul Haggis
Paul Edward Haggis is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, and director. He spent his early career producing and directing various American and Canadian television network series.-Early life and education:...
and Nazanin Boniadi
Nazanin Boniadi
Nazanin Boniadi is a British Iranian actress currently living and working in the US.-Early life:...
and signed by Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
and others to protest the imprisonment of Panahi.
Cine Foundation International
Cine Foundation International
Cine Foundation International is London-based non-profit film company and human rights NGO "aiming to 'empower open consciousness through cinema'". The foundation was formed in December 2010 by American filmmaker Jesse Richards, founder of the Remodernist film movement, South Korean film critic...
, a "non-profit film company and human rights NGO aiming to 'empower open consciousness through cinema'" announced on 3 January 2011 that they are launching a campaign of protest films and public actions calling for the release of Panahi. "The campaign will include protest films that speak to human rights issues in Iran and throughout the world, six of which are commissioned feature-length, plus twenty shorts. Participating filmmakers may act anonymously or through pseudonyms since voicing their stories can be dangerous. The films, which will address themes of nation, identity, self, spiritual culture, censorship and imprisonment, will be aimed for public, web and various exhibition media". Later in January, CFI deployed a video protest mechanism called WHITE MEADOWS (named for the Mohammad Rasoulof film, The White Meadows
The White Meadows
The White Meadows is a 2009 Iranian film written, directed and produced by Mohammad Rasoulof. The film was edited by leading Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi and stars Hassan Pourshirazi as Rahmat.-About the Director:...
, which was edited by Panahi) and developed by Ericson deJesus (of Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
and frog design) at the request of the foundation. The video mechanism "allow(s) anyone in the world to record a short video statement about Panahi and Rasoulof. There will be an ESCAPE button at top, allowing quick exit for those in countries where recording a statement would be dangerous. There will an option to have the screen black, and soon, voice distortion. The video statements will be recorded as mp4s, giving them maximum transmedia capacity, which essentially makes them broadcastable from any device that can show video". Users can also use the mechanism to comment on how they would "like to see as an international response by the film industry", comment on the state of human rights in general, or to "report a human rights abuse to the world".
In Spring 2011, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
's American Repertory Theater and System of a Down
System of a Down
System of a Down, also known by the acronym SOAD and often shortened to System, is a rock band from Southern California. The band was formed in 1994. It consists of Serj Tankian , Daron Malakian , Shavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan...
's Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist...
dedicated their production of Prometheus Bound
Prometheus Bound
Prometheus Bound is an Ancient Greek tragedy. In Antiquity, this drama was attributed to Aeschylus, but is now considered by some scholars to be the work of another hand, perhaps one as late as ca. 415 BC. Despite these doubts of authorship, the play's designation as Aeschylean has remained...
to Panahi and seven other activists, stating in program notes that "by singing the story of Prometheus
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
, the God who defied the tyrant Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
by giving the human race both fire and art, this production hopes to give a voice to those currently being silenced or endangered by modern-day oppressors".
Style
Panahi's style is often described as an Iranian form of neorealismNeorealism (art)
In art, neorealism was established by the ex-Camden Town Group painters Charles Ginner and Harold Gilman at the beginning of World War I. They set out to explore the spirit of their age through the shapes and colours of daily life...
. Jake Wilson describes his films as connected by a "tension between documentary immediacy and a set of strictly defined formal parameters" in addition to "overtly expressed anger at the restrictions that Iranian society imposes". His film Offside is so ensconced in the reality that it was actually filmed in part during the event it dramatizes – the Iran
Iran national football team
The national football team of Iran represents Iran in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran...
-Bahrain
Bahrain national football team
The Bahrain national football team is the national team of the Kingdom of Bahrain and is controlled by the Bahrain Football Association; it was founded in 1951 and joined FIFA in 1966. They have never reached the finals of the World Cup, but have twice come within one match of doing so...
qualifying match for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
.
Where Panahi differs from his fellow realist filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
, is in the explicitness of his social critique. Stephen Teo writes that
- "Panahi's films redefine the humanitarian themes of contemporary Iranian cinema, firstly, by treating the problems of women in modern Iran, and secondly, by depicting human characters as "non-specific persons" – more like figures who nevertheless remain full-blooded characters, holding on to the viewer's attention and gripping the senses. Like the best Iranian directors who have won acclaim on the world stage, Panahi evokes humanitarianism in an unsentimental, realistic fashion, without necessarily overriding political and social messages. In essence, this has come to define the particular aesthetic of Iranian cinema. So powerful is this sensibility that we seem to have no other mode of looking at Iranian cinema other than to equate it with a universal concept of humanitarianism."
Panahi says that his style can be described as "humanitarian events interpreted in a poetic and artistic way". He says "In a world where films are made with millions of dollars, we made a film about a little girl who wants to buy a fish for less than a dollar (in The White Balloon) – this is what we're trying to show."
In an interview with Anthony Kaufman, Panahi said: "I was very conscious of not trying to play with people's emotions; we were not trying to create tear-jerking scenes. So it engages people's intellectual side. But this is with assistance from the emotional aspect and a combination of the two."
Filmography
- The Wounded Heads (Yarali Bashlar, 1988)
- Kish (1991)
- The Friend (Doust, 1992)
- The Last Exam (Akharin Emtehan, 1992)
- The White Balloon (Badkonake Sefid, 1995)
- Ardekoul (1997)
- The MirrorThe Mirror (1997 film)The Mirror is a 1997 Iranian film directed by Jafar Panahi, about a little girl trying to find her way home from school.-Plot:Mina, a young girl, finds her mother has failed to pick her up from school, so she decides to walk home on her own. The movie is about her endeavor to find her way home...
(Ayneh, 1997) - The Circle (Dayereh, 2000)
- Crimson GoldCrimson GoldCrimson Gold is a 2003 Iranian film directed by Jafar Panahi, and written by Abbas Kiarostami. The film was never distributed in Iranian theatres, because it was considered too "dark"...
(Talaye Sorkh, 2003) - Offside (2006)
- This Is Not a FilmThis Is Not a FilmThis Is Not a Film is an Iranian documentary film by Jafar Panahi and Mojbata Mirtahmasb. It was released on 28 September 2011 in France, distributed by Kanibal Films Distribution. The film was smuggled from Iran to Cannes in a Flash-Drive hidden inside a birthday cake. It was specially screened...
(2011)
Awards and honors
Panahi has won numerous awards. These are the most important:- Carrosse d'Or, 2011 Cannes Film Festival2011 Cannes Film FestivalThe 64th annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 11 to May 22, 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition...
- HIVOS Cinema Unlimited Award (2007)
- PudúPudúThe pudús are two species of South American deer from the genus Pudu; the world's smallest deer. The name is a loanword from Mapudungun the language of the indigenous Mapuche people of southern Chile...
Award, at the Valdivia International Film FestivalValdivia International Film FestivalThe Valdivia International Film Festival started as a very successful international film exhibition released in 1993 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Cine Club of the Universidad Austral de Chile. A competition was included the following year, labeled as "Valdivia Cine & Video"...
2007 for his life-time artistic accomplishments - Silver Bear, Berlin Film Festival 2006
- Prix du Jury – Un Certain RegardUn Certain RegardUn Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
, Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
2003. - Golden LionGolden LionIl Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
, Venice Film FestivalVenice Film FestivalThe Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
2000 - Golden Leopard, Locarno International Film FestivalLocarno International Film FestivalThe Film Festival Locarno is an international film festival held annually in the city of Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. After Cannes and Venice and together with Karlovy Vary, Locarno is the Film Festival with the longest history...
1997 - Prix de la Camera d'Or, Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
1995
Film festival work
Panahi was a jury member at numerous film festivals:- President of the jury of Montreal World Film FestivalMontreal World Film FestivalThe Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...
(2009) - President of the jury of Rotterdam Film Festival (2008)
- Chair of the International Film Festival of Kerala Jury (2007)
- International Eurasia Film FestivalInternational Eurasia Film FestivalInternational Eurasia Film Festival was a film festival that took place annually from 2005 to 2008 in Antalya, Turkey. The festival was jointly organised by the Turkish Foundation of Cinema and Audio-visual Culture and the Antalya Foundation for Culture and Arts in conjunction with the Antalya...
(2007) - Karlovy Vary International Film FestivalKarlovy Vary International Film FestivalThe Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary , Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival gained worldwide recognition over the past years and has become one of Europe's major film events....
(2001)
Readings
- Hamid DabashiHamid DabashiHamid Dabashi born 1951 in Ahvaz is an Iranian-American Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York City.He is the author of over twenty books...
, Masters & Masterpieces of Iranian Cinema, Mage Publishers (May 15, 2007) ISBN 0-934211-85-X