Mohammad Rasoulof was one of two film directors arrested by Iranian authorities on Friday, the country’s state media reports.
Berlin Golden Bear winner Rasoulof and his colleague Mostafa Aleahmad were arrested following the collapse of a building, killing 43, in the country’s southwest back in May.
The tragedy sparked angry protests in solidarity with victims’ families, with demonstrators facing tear gas, warning shots and arrests. Rasoulof was part of a group that included Iranian filmmakers who published an open letter requesting security forces “lay down their arms”Face to face with “corruption, theft, inefficiency and repression”Information relating to the catastrophe.
The couple were taken into police custody “inciting unrest and disrupting the psychological safety of society,”According to IRNA state media agency.
Rasoulof won Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear Award for Best Film. There is no evilIn 2020, he also won at Cannes and other festivals.
He returned to Iran in 2017, since when he has been banned from making films and travelling beyond the country’s borders after being charged with making “propaganda against the system”His films.
Two of Rasoulof’s Iranian producers, Kaveh Farnam and Farzad Pak, released a statement via distributor Kino Lorber, condemning the arrests and stating the two filmmakers are currently being held in an unknown location.