News not looking good on the Jafar Panahi front. He was arrested on March 1, and has been in prison ever since. His wife has been quite vocal about his heart condition, and also that she has been denied access to him. The Iranian regime hopes to bully him into silence, through intimidation and incarceration. It is an outrage. Iranian film-makers and artists have been courageously calling for his release, and now a group of Western filmmakers have added their voices to the mix.<\/p>\n
Read the petition here, with signatures<\/a>.<\/p>\n I have written about Jafar Panahi quite a bit here, my love for his films, and my concern for his welfare since he has been arrested. I won’t even get into my rage.<\/p>\n If you’re on Facebook, there is a group called Free Jafar Panahi, and it’s filled with links and up-to-date information, as well as suggestions of what you might be able to do to help. Publicity is essential. Bullies prefer to operate in private. Spotlights are essential to shaming those involved. Panahi originally was arrested for other “crimes”, not having to do with his films (uh-huh, yeah, right – he shoplifted when he was a teenager? He cheated on his taxes? Uh-huh), and now apparently they’ve gone back and said, “Oh, yeah, we actually DID arrest him for the films he has made, and also the film he was ABOUT to make.”<\/p>\n As Panahi did so wonderfully in Offside<\/i> (my review here<\/a>), there is a temptation to laugh at the small-minded fascist attitudes of those who have imprisoned him, but the situation really is too serious for that. These people aren’t messing around.<\/p>\n A petition like this will not be the “Abracadabra” that Panahi needs, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" News not looking good on the Jafar Panahi front. He was arrested on March 1, and has been in prison ever since. His wife has been quite vocal about his heart condition, and also that she has been denied access … Continue reading