Taraneh Alidoosti: European Film Institutions, Festivals Join Calls For Iranian Actress To Be Released

Melanie Goodfellow
·2 min read
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The Amsterdam-based International Coalition For Filmmakers At Risk (ICFR) has issued a statement protesting the arrest of Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti and demanding her immediate and unconditional release.

The body, created in 2019 to advocate for cinema professionals at risk of political persecution, was joined by founding partners, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and European Film Academy, together with the German Film Academy and the Berlin Film Festival.

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“We declare our full and heartfelt solidarity with all those in Iran who stand up for their basic human rights and the freedom of expression and call on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Taraneh Alidoosti and her colleagues,” They said. “We encourage all film and culture institutions around the world to do the same.

Alidoosti, who is one of Iran’s most celebrated contemporary actresses, was arrested over the weekend.

The actress, whose credits include Oscar-winning drama The Salesman and Cannes 2022 competition title Leila’s Brothers, has been daringly vocal in her support of freedom protests sparked by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in September.

In early November, she posted a picture of herself without a headscarf on her Instagram account, followed by another image showing her out shopping with uncovered hair a few days later.

Last week, she publicly condemned the execution of human rights activist Mohsen Shekari on her Instagram account which has since been taken down.

Iranian government-backed media said Alidoosti had been arrested for “failing to provide proof for some of her statements”.

There has been widespread condemnation of Alidoosti’s arrest.

On Tuesday, Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi, who directed Alidoosti in The Salesman, also called for her release on Instagram while the Cannes Film Festival also expressed its support for the actress on its social media accounts.

Alidoosti joins a growing number of Iranian artists detained by the authorities, firstly in a crackdown on freedom of speech and now the protests.

Other detained figures from Iran’s art and entertainment world include filmmakers Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad, singer Singer Shervin Kapour and Kurdish Tehran-based rapper Saman Yasin, who could face the death penalty after being found guilty of “enmity against God” in a court hearing at the end of October.

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