Iran General NewsSwiss festival invites jailed Iranian film maker Panahi

Swiss festival invites jailed Iranian film maker Panahi

-

AFP: Jailed Iranian film director Jafar Panahi has been invited to join the jury at an international film festival in Switzerland in March that focuses on human rights, the organisers said on Thursday.

GENEVA, January 6, 2011 (AFP) – Jailed Iranian film director Jafar Panahi has been invited to join the jury at an international film festival in Switzerland in March that focuses on human rights, the organisers said on Thursday.

Last month, an Iranian court sentenced Panahi, 50, widely known outside Iran for award-winning films such as “The Circle,” “Crimson Gold” and “Offside”, to six years in jail for alleged subversion, his lawyer said.

The International film festival and forum on human rights (FIFDH) said in a statement that it had invited Panahi to the jury alongside Spanish author Jorge Semprun, Italian writer Antonio Tabucchi, actress and director Zabou Breitman, and a Swiss filmmaker Jean Stephane Brin.

“In any case the FIFDH will reserve his seat on the jury,” it added in a statement.

The festival in the Swiss city of Geneva on March 4 to 13, which will be held for the ninth time, has a tradition of acting as a forum for freedom of speech and dialogue through the movie world.

Last year it went ahead with screening an Iranian film, Hana Makhmalbaf’s “Green Days”, set in Iran’s controversial election period in 2009, as its opening movie a few days after Panahi was arrested.

The screening was followed by a debate that included actress Golshifteh Farahan and the lawyer Karim Lahidji, head the Iranian League for the Defdence of Human Rights.

Iranian authorities accused Panahi of making an “anti-regime” film about the unrest which rocked Iran after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009.

Latest news

 Statistics show that New Year accidents’ deaths in Iran reached 585

Ahmad Shirani, the head of the Information and Traffic Control Center of the Iranian regime’s police, announced that the...

Land Subsidence in Critical Conditions in Isfahan

Mehdi Toghyani, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), pointed to the occurrence of land subsidence in various...

Iran’s Actual Inflation Rate Higher Than Official Stats

The state-run Donya-e-eqtesad newspaper, in a report analyzing the "general sentiment" regarding inflation in 2023, has stated that households...

Iranian Workers’ Monthly $136 Wages Can’t Cover $500 Expenses

The lives of a significant portion of the Iranian population are marked by uncertainty, largely because the Iranian economy...

Iranian Nurses Earn Twice Their Wages in Ride-Hailing Services

Reza Aryanpour, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) Health and Treatment Commission, highlighted the growing trend of nurses...

Iran: Unprecedented Record of 152 Million Liters of Gasoline Consumption Per Day

On March 19, Iran set a new historical record in gasoline consumption with 152 million liters consumed in one...

Must read

India trying to ensure constant crude supply from Iran:oil min

Reuters: India is trying to ensure uninterrupted supplies of...

Iran considers release of German reporters

Reuters: Iran is considering a request from Germany to...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you