"It's just after 1 a.m. in Seattle as director Jafar Panahi and a posse of representatives from the local Iranian diaspora make their way to the next bar, the Space Needle looming nearby. Spirits are high-this bar crawl celebrates a rare opportunity for Panahi to tour with one of his films. In his home country, he is not just banned from showing his movies, but barred from filmmaking entirely."
"A legend of Iranian cinema, Panahi has been making internationally acclaimed films since the 1990s, but in 2010, his tendency to push sociopolitical buttons earned him a six-year prison sentence and a 20-year ban on making movies, writing screenplays, leaving Iran, or giving interviews. While the imprisonment was conditionally suspended, the various bans were upheld, so he continued to make films illegally."
Jafar Panahi faced imprisonment and a long ban from filmmaking, screenwriting, travel, and giving interviews after confrontations with Iranian authorities. The bans were upheld even when imprisonment was conditionally suspended, prompting Panahi to continue making films covertly. His recent film, It Was Just an Accident, filmed secretly in Iran, follows former political prisoners who abduct a suspected torturer and confront questions of identity and morality. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and is entered for international awards as a French submission. Panahi left Iran after his travel ban lifted in 2023 and now lives in France while touring his work.
Read at The Nation
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