Over 200 Filmmakers Urge Rouhani to Lift Travel Ban on Rasoulof

More than 200 filmmakers and other cinema professionals in Iran have written a letter to Hassan Rouhani, urging him to resolve the travel ban on Mohammad Rasoulof in light of his promises regarding citizens' rights. This letter has been signed by prominent figures such as Mehrdad Eskoui, Mohsen Amiryousefi, Mahnaz Afshar, Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami, Leila Hatami, Mohammad Shirvani, Dariush Mehrjui, Shahram Mokri, Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Ali Mosaffa, and Farzad Motamen, and was published on various media platforms, including the website Khabar Online, on Saturday, March 16. The brief letter references the President's duty to uphold the Constitution and defend civil liberties, reminding him of his own slogans. The letter addressed to the Iranian President states: "Since you are the guardian and guarantor of the Constitution and have always emphasized the principle of popular sovereignty and citizens' rights, we, a group of filmmakers and cinema professionals in Iran, demand the lifting of the travel ban on Mohammad Rasoulof, a young Iranian filmmaker, in defense of human dignity and civil liberties, as well as in accordance with Article 23 of the Constitution." In late September of this year, Rasoulof's passport was confiscated upon his arrival in Iran at Tehran's airport. He had traveled to Europe to showcase his latest film, "Lerd," which examines administrative corruption and power relations in Iran and won the Best Film award in the "Un Certain Regard" section at the recent Cannes Film Festival. His previous film, "The Manuscripts Don't Burn," also won the same award at Cannes, addressing the serial killings of Iranian writers and intellectuals, a reality rooted in events orchestrated by elements within the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence. In December of this year, Rasoulof reported that he had been interrogated in one of the "safe houses of the Revolutionary Guards." He also stated that three Revolutionary Guards intelligence officers informed him during the interrogation that "more interrogations are needed to complete the case, which may take months." Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi, another Iranian director, were arrested in 2009 for making a film about that year's presidential election. Rasoulof was sentenced to six years in prison in 2010, which was later reduced to one year on appeal. Other signatories of the letter to the Iranian President include Majid Barzegar, Amir Shahab Razavian, Varouj Karim-Masihi, Mani Haghighi, Mahnaz Afshar, and Bijan Mirbagheri.