Jafar Panahi’s release: “A moral victory”

Geoffrey Cheshire, expert in Iranian cinema, writes a great piece about the release of Jafar Panahi.

It just so happens that Panahi’s imprisonment coincided with the Cannes Film Festival (although there may be more than coincidence at work here). If the regime in Iran was hoping to send a hard-edged message to the international film community about their willingness to imprison one of their country’s biggest stars, it certainly backfired. What with Abbas Kiarostami’s already high profile (he, who was Panahi’s mentor and collaborator on Panahi’s first international success), and Kiarostami’s closeness with Juliette Binoche (she who was featured on the Cannes 2010 poster), not to mention his own film, Certified Copy, premiering at Cannes, and starring, among other actresses, Binoche – Panahi’s imprisonment was bound to take center stage at the Festival. Panahi had been invited to sit on the Jury, and when he could not attend, a chair was left open for him, throughout the proceedings with his name on it, a potent and constant reminder of what was going on in Iran. Panahi’s presence haunted Cannes. Kiarostami made statements. Binoche made statements. Everyone made statements. Binoche won Best Actress at Cannes for her role in Kiarostami’s film, and held up a sign saying “JAFAR PANAHI” when she won, stating that she hoped he would be able to attend next year.

This is one of those instances when the “klieg-light” response to injustice, especially towards a fellow artist, has paid off in spades. Panahi’s imprisonment back in March received publicity, yes, but having the entire worldwide artistic community come into one place, at one time, during the Cannes Film Festival, helped galvanize and solidify the voices of protest. An unintended consequence of the Iranian regime’s timing.

There is much we still don’t know, and much that will still be revealed. Being released on bail obviously means that there is some expectation that there will be a trial, but that is far from a done deal. As always, I wonder about the conversations in the halls of power in Tehran over the last month or so. Their public comments have been impenetrable and yet also defensive (as in: we in the West have initiated a “propaganda” campaign against Iran, and somehow it is our fault, like we have somehow misunderstood the situation, and etc.) All typical stuff, not surprising in the slightest. That’s how they have been playing the game for decades.

As I mentioned in, I think, my first post on Panahi’s imprisonment, injustice of this kind requires secrecy, which no longer exists in our global world of international communication. So there’s THAT, first of all, and the Iranian regime has tried to stem the tide of information, but they can’t. If you follow any Iranian Twitter feeds (as I do), then you know that these people are screaming, on a minute-to-minute basis, about what is going on. They use pseudonyms and block their locations, and do all of this at great personal risk. And then there is the international community, all gathered in one place, at Cannes, and there wasn’t one important piece published about Cannes during the festival that did not somehow mention Panahi. This stuff is really important. The drumbeats soon become deafening. The Panahi conversation became dominant, which is what anyone focusing on injustice anywhere hopes for.

Panahi’s decision to go on hunger strike, and then make sure it became public knowledge by getting the word out to people who could spread the word further, was a gamble that should be recognized. He was (is) willing to die for the cause of freedom and artistic integrity. The Iranian regime did not call his “bluff”. Not this time, anyway. They caved.

Their attempts to save face in the last two days are laughable, but also understandable, from a political standpoint. Whatever, Mr. Panahi is out of jail now, and hopefully recuperating at home with his wife and family.

The fight will go on. To quote Jamsheed Akrami, film professor in New Jersey, quoted in the article by Geoffrey Cheshire, this is “a moral victory”, but triumphalism will not do here, when the situation is still so serious for so many others who are not celebrities.

But Panahi is a symbol. And symbols are important. They are not everything. Only totalitarian governments and fascist-minded people think symbols are everything. But Panahi’s release is an important concession of moral ground (ground I don’t believe Iran held in the first place, but I’m trying to see it from their perspective). This was a huge and public concession. The regime blinked.

And so, as always, we have to see what will happen next.

Go read Cheshire’s piece.

First photo of Jafar Panahi after release from prison.

Panahi’s first message on his Facebook page came this morning, about an hour ago:

I’m freed and beside my family and I believe more and more that : Cinema is Cinema.

Welcome home.

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1 Response to Jafar Panahi’s release: “A moral victory”

  1. Jen W. says:

    What great news that it all led to something happy.

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