Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Iran has summoned the representative of France in protest after French Foreign Minister praised an Iranian film awarded as “a gesture of resistance against the oppression of the Iranian regime.”
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had praised “It was just an accident” thereafter He won the prestigious Palme D’Or Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The Iranian movie focuses on a man who kidnaps his alleged captor after being tortured in prison.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the position of French D’A Asfaires was convened by the “interventionist, irresponsible and instigative accusations of the minister, the Irna news agency reported.
“Losing the Iranians of the United States. Last week, France threatened the “concrete action” Against Israel, if the country did not stop the offensive in Gaza and raised restrictions on humanitarian aid, but the statement was discarded mainly as empty threats.
Immediately after the announcement of the award, the Iranian state news agency had announced a more turned off the prize, accrediting the country’s film industry for winning a second palm d’Or after the 1997 drama of Abbas Kiarostami, “Taste of Cherry”.
In Iran, cinematographic productions must receive the approval of the government script to shoot in public. The dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi refuses to do that, knowing that they will not allow him to make the films he wants, and “it was just an accident” was filmed without cooperation. Iranian state television described the film as a mixture of “lie and stained”, as well as an “underground” film produced without permits required in Iran. State television also punished Panahi for not mentioning the difficult situation of the Palestinians in their acceptance speech.
The film follows a man named Vahid, played by Vahid Mobasser, who believes he sees his former captor, who tortured him in prison and ruined his life. He kidnaps it, takes him to the desert and begins to bury him on the ground.
But to satisfy doubts, Vahid decides to confirm his suspicion bringing the man, locked in his truck, to other former prisoners for identification. On a strange and emotional trip, everyone is forced to deal with revenge and forgiveness. Panahi was based on the experiences of his own imprisonment, as well as the stories of detainees around him.
Other state media were more critical of victory. The Mizan news agency, an arm of the judiciary of the country, reported on victory as part of the “Political Cannes Film Festival”, suggesting that the award was awarded to Panahi due to its political inclinations.
The media and pro-reform activists praised Panahi. “This victory is not an accident: it is the result of a tireless dedication to explore humanistic values and human rights,” he said Nobel Prize for the Narges Mohammadi Peace Prizewho was also previously imprisoned in the notorious Evin de Tehran prison. Inmates in prison include those with western ties and political prisoners.
Panahi, one of the main international directors, was prohibited from traveling outside Iran in 2009 for attending the funeral of a student killed in anti -government protests, a sentence that later extended to two decades. But even when it was placed under house arrest, Panahi continued making films, many of which are among the most praised of the century. He made “this not a movie” from 2011 on an iPhone in his living room. “Taxi” (2015) shot clandestinely almost completely inside a car.
Panahi was arrested in 2022 When he went to Tehran’s office to ask about the arrests of two other Iranian filmmakers. Later, a judge ruled that he must serve six years for an earlier sentence for propagandization charges against the government since 2011 that had never been applied. In early 2023, Panahi I went on hunger strike and was released from Evin prison.
Panahi said he would not seek asylum in another country, despite the risks of additional imprisonment.
“It’s simple. I can’t live here,” he said last week since the Cannes Festival. “I have no capacity to adapt to a new country, a new culture. Some people have this ability, this force. I do not.”
On Monday, Panahi landed in Tehran for cheers and applaud fans.
– Associated Press Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran and Jake Coyle in Cannes, France, contributed.
