TEHRAN, Iran: Prominent filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to prison by a country court for “collusion against national security”, his lawyer said.
Babak Paknia Wednesday said in a post on X that Rasoulof, whose film is scheduled to be screened in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival this month, was sentenced to five years in prison. The court verdict also included “flogging, fine and confiscation of property”.
Rasoulof’s film “Seed of the Sacred Fig” will be screened in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
Rasoulof, who is in his early 50s, was sentenced to eight years in prison but will serve only five, Paknia said in a social media post.
Under Iranian law, the prison sentences run concurrently.
According to the lawyer, the court found Rasoulof guilty of “collusion against national security”.
Official media in Iran have not yet published the verdict.
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On April 30, Paknia reported that Iranian authorities had summoned and interrogated some of the people involved in the production of “Holy Fig Seed” and are under pressure to remove the film from the Cannes Film Festival.
It was not immediately known how many people involved in the production were being questioned.
Rasoulof won the Golden Bear, the Berlin Film Festival’s top prize, in 2020 for his anti-penalty film There Is No Evil.
He was arrested in July 2022 and released the following year after the wave of nationwide protests that began in September 2022 subsided.
Appearing at the Cannes festival has become increasingly critical for Iranian actors and directors in recent years.
