Released on bail in early February and now authorized to leave Iranian territory, Jafar Panahi and his wife have joined their daughter in France for an indefinite period of stay.
Iranian dissident director Jafar Panahi, released from prison in February, left his country for the first time in nearly 14 years for a trip to France, his lawyer told AFP on Wednesday. The 62-year-old filmmaker, whose films have won awards at numerous festivals, was released on bail in early February after nearly seven months in detention in Tehran.
Exit ban lifted
He had been banned from leaving the territory since 2010, when he was sentenced to six years in prison for “propaganda against the system”. “After serving his sentence, Mr. Panahi was allowed to leave the country and obtained his passport”, said Me Saleh Nikbakht. The lawyer confirmed that the director had traveled to France to visit his daughter who lives there, without specifying the duration of the stay.
On the evening of Tuesday, April 26, the filmmaker’s wife posted a photo of herself and her husband at an airport on her Instagram page, showing her joy at leaving the country. “EFinally, we will travel together”she, among other things, wrote under the photo.
Freed from jails Iranian women after a hunger strike
Arrested on July 11, 2022 in Tehran, Jafar Panahi was released in February, two days after going on a hunger strike to protest against his conditions of detention. “As far as I know, there are no more court files against him”said his lawyer.
Jafar Panahi won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2000 for his film The circlethen the Golden Bear in Berlin for Taxi Tehran in 2015 before the prize for the best screenplay for Three Faces at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
His latest film, Afor Ours, which, like most of his recent works, features him directly, was screened in 2022 at the Venice Film Festival when he was already imprisoned. He won the Special Jury Prize.
