Rasoulof banned from leaving Iran

Director had hoped to serve on Cannes Un Certain Regard jury

by Amber Wilkinson

Mohammad Rasoulof
Mohammad Rasoulof Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been banned from leaving the country to take part in the Cannes Film Festival Un Certai Regard jury.

The news was broken by Radio France Internationale (RFI) - a Farsi-language news agency - last night.

The There Is No Evil director was jailed last year for criticising the government but was released in February.

RFI reported that the festival had hoped that Rasoulof, 50, would be able to leave the country to be part of the jury and target="_Blank">Deadline said it had confirmed this with the director.

The news comes after it emerged that Jafar Panahi - who was also released from jail in February, after going on hunger strike - had been permitted to leave Iran for the first time in 14 years last week. He visited his daughter in France and returned a few days later.

Rasoulof won the Un Certain Regard section in 2017 with A Man Of Integrity and his Manuscripts Don't Burn won a FIPRESCI prize in the section in 2013.

Cannes Film Festival has yet to comment on the matter.

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