SWEDEN – Iranian filmmaker Mariam Mogadam and her partner Behatash Sanayeha were sentenced to 14 months in prison by the Iranian Revolutionary Court and suspended for five years.
Duo who oversaw the Berlinale 2024 contest entry My favourite cakein early April, after the end of Nowruz’s holiday, he was sentenced by the court branch 26. Film producer Gholamreza Mousavi was also convicted.
The film was charged with “propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” “production of obscene content,” and “screening without permission.” The specific violations included failing to comply with the hijab-wearing requirements of lead actress Lili Farhadpur and participating in foreign festivals without approval, including Berlin.
The three defendants also suspended their one-year sentence to “participate in the production of obscene content.” And they confiscated their filming equipment.
Moghaddam and Sanaeeha are ordered to pay a 400m Iranian rial ($9,498) fine to the state’s Treasury. Three defendants on screening fees will receive individual fines of 200m IRR ($4,749).
Other crew members and several actors, including cinematographer Mohammad Haddadi, have also been fined.
“I feel like I won,” Mogadam said. “We knew we had to take a risk if we were to stand up to something that we thought was wrong, or we would have to risk not changing anything through the regime in order to break Iran’s censorship rules.”
Mogadam described the legal process as “theater,” but says the support she received from the international film community was valuable. “There is so much hope in a kind and friendly world that thinks about each other.”
The petition seeking the duo to withdraw all charges against them received over 18,000 signatures including the United Nations of at-risk filmmakers, festival directors Tricia Tuttle, Alberto Barbera, filmmakers Serin Siama, Pedro Almodovar and Joachim Trier.
The Iranian supervising guild condemned the verdict. “The convictions of films and internationally acclaimed films, given official permission from the film organization, do not help to resolve film problems, but rather signals about the handling of independent films,” the guild said in a statement.
Forbidden
My favourite cake Following a chance encounter with a man at a cafe, it follows a 70-year-old single woman who chooses to revive her love life. The film received production permit from the Iranian government to be filmed in Tehran in the fall of 2022.
However, Moghaddam and Sanaeeha confiscated their passports when they were about to travel to Paris for post-production in September 2023 and were unable to attend the world premiere in Berlin in February 2024.
Berlin is one of the film organizations that expresses support for filmmakers ahead of the festival selection following the confiscation of their passports.
Moghaddam and Sanaeeha are the latest in a string of Iranian filmmakers indicted by dictatorships in recent years. Mohammad Rasoulof escaped last May, ahead of his world premiere Sacred Fig Seed At Cannes, the film was nominated for an Oscar last month. Jafar Panah was jailed in 2022 to support Rasourov. Panahi was released in February 2023 after going on a hunger strike. He will be shown at Cannes next month A simple accident.
French totem movies handle global sales My favourite cake. The film took part in a massive festival tour following Berlin, which includes Karlovy Vary, Edinburgh, Rio de Janeiro, Busan and Tallin. It was released in September 2024 by Curzon of Ireland in England and exceeded £125,000.
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