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Iranian filmmakers have united in penning an open letter to their pals and colleagues throughout the movie business, requesting their assist in defending the rights of Iran’s folks.
The letter comes after the demise of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in custody, allegedly by police brutality, after her arrest for not sporting her hijab in accordance with authorities requirements.
Their letter reads:
Pricey Buddies and Colleagues
Courageous Iranians have taken to the streets throughout the nation shouting “girl, life, liberty” for a complete week now whereas going through persistent, violent, and infrequently lethal assaults from the oppressive forces.
The Iranian authorities has restricted web utilization and blocked entry to social media platforms with a purpose to additional suppress folks’s voices. Final time such measures had been applied in 2019, the Iranian authorities murdered 1500 folks. Unbiased Iranian filmmakers are standing by these fearless Iranian men and women and try exhausting to seize and doc historical past because it unfolds with restricted sources.
They’re dedicated to being the truthful, unbiased, and brave narrators of historical past. To be the voice of the folks. For years, the Iranian authorities has used censorship and repression at residence below the guise of supporting freedom elsewhere on the earth. We are actually straight interesting to each filmmaker on the earth: Your solidarity with the folks of Iran sends a transparent message to warmongers in all places.
We ask you to additional echo the rallying cries of Iranians for freedom. Change into the voice of these people who find themselves paying with their lives for freedom. Your direct and public assist presents hope to our youths.Reporting on the information of violence used in opposition to our folks can stop extra violence and bloodshed.
The letter is signed by Shirin Neshat, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Pegah Ahangarani, Bahman Ghobadi, Abdolreza Kahani, Ali Abbasi, Kaveh Farnam, Farzad Pak and Ali Ahmadzadeh.
The European Movie Academy has responded. The Academy’s chairman, Irish producer/novelist Mike Downey stated:
“The European Movie Academy stands in full assist of the Iranian movie makers protesting in opposition to the present wave suppression spreading all through Iran. There have been operating battles between Iranian police and anti-government protesters in Tehran within the worst unrest there for years.
“The movie business and documentarians are being fearless of their makes an attempt to file the crackdowns. Iran is now topic to probably the most extreme web restrictions seen since mass anti-government erupted in November 2019. We abhor censorship in all its varieties and totally assist Iranian movie makers preventing for survival in a local weather of horrible repression.”
Police reported that Mahsa Amini went into coronary heart failure at a station and died after two days in a coma. Eyewitnesses and ladies who had been detailed on the identical time stated she was severely crushed. Amini’s demise resulted in a collection of large-scale protests throughout the nation which introduced worldwide consideration.
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