Venice Film Festival Declares Solidarity with the People of Iran in Support of Saeed Roustayi

The Venice Film Festival, following the prison sentence issued against Iranian filmmaker Saeed Roustayi by the Islamic Republic, will declare its solidarity with the people of Iran in a special program. According to 'Variety', the festival announced on Friday, August 25, that it will organize a flash mob on the red carpet in solidarity with Iranian women and men fighting for 'freedom' and against the 'ongoing repression' in the country, as well as filmmakers and artists who have been detained or imprisoned by the Iranian government. A flash mob is a type of spontaneous gathering typically held at artistic events with the presence of artists and enthusiasts for a specific purpose or request, often with a critical aspect. The festival organizers stated that this flash mob is partly a response to the sentencing of Saeed Roustayi, the director of 'Brothers Leila', who was sentenced to six months in prison by the Islamic Republic earlier this month. Saeed Roustayi is a well-known figure at the Venice Festival, and his film 'Metri Shesh-o-Nim' was screened in the Horizons section of Venice in 2019. Roustayi was sentenced to six months of imprisonment for 'propaganda against the regime' and for making and screening 'Brothers Leila' at the Cannes Festival, along with a five-year ban on any filmmaking activities and contact with individuals active in the film industry, and mandatory completion of a course on 'filmmaking while preserving national and ethical interests' at the Qom University of Radio and Television. The condemnation of Roustayi's sentence has faced protests from major filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, as well as the Cannes Film Festival, which have strongly criticized this action by the Islamic Republic. Hamid Soleiman-Zadeh, a writer, critic, and researcher in film and philosophy in Germany, told Voice of America: 'This is a mockery of the entire status of art and the artist in Iran. The issuance of such sentences is the result of confusion among Iranian cinematic and judicial authorities who truly do not know what to do. They think that by making such decisions, they can stop the cycle of independent cinema and the production of works that are made regardless of their arbitrary permits, but that is a vain hope.' The Venice Film Festival had a similar program last year to support Jafar Panahi, a critical Iranian filmmaker, on the red carpet in Venice. It is expected that many filmmakers, artists, and prominent figures will participate in this program, which will take place on Saturday, September 2, to draw the attention of governments, media, and public opinion worldwide to the current conditions in Iran and the freedom-seeking struggles of its people. The flash mob this year coincides with the screening of the film 'Tatami', co-directed by Israeli director Guy Nattiv and Iranian actress Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, in the Horizons section of Venice. This film tells the true story of a young judo champion whom Iranian authorities wanted to force to withdraw from competition so she would not compete against an Israeli athlete. The 80th Venice International Film Festival will be held from August 30 to September 9. Hayoun Ghani-Zadeh criticized Roustayi's prison sentence as a sign of desperation from the authorities. One of the 'Brothers Leila' supported Roustayi; Peyman Maadi criticized the 'issuers of strange sentences'. Francis Ford Coppola, the renowned American director, protested Roustayi's prison sentence. The American PEN Association stated that Roustayi's prison sentence is an attempt to 'silence' creative voices. The Independent Filmmakers Association of Iran emphasized the necessity of supporting the nameless youth of Iranian cinema. Roustayi's prison sentence has drawn reactions from Cannes Festival managers and Martin Scorsese's efforts to annul the sentence. The Iranian Directors Association condemned the sentence against Roustayi. Hamid Soleiman-Zadeh, a film critic, called the sentence against Roustayi 'ridiculous'. The conviction of the director of 'Brothers Leila' to imprisonment and a ban on work was for the crime of 'propaganda against the regime.'