Filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, whose film “There Is No Evil” is set to be presented in the competition of the 77th Cannes International Film Festival, has been sentenced by an Iranian court to eight years of imprisonment, confiscation of property, fines, and flogging. This was reported by the director’s lawyer, Babak Paknia, on his social media page X.
According to Paknia, the Islamic Revolutionary Court decided that in Rasoulof’s public statements, films, and documentary projects, there were “examples of conspiracy with the intention of committing crimes against the security of the country.” The lawyers were also unable to appeal this decision in the appellate court.
Rasoulof’s sentence was handed down on the eve of the opening of the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where the director was supposed to attend the premiere of his new film included in the main competition. However, his attendance was in question even before the court’s decision.
Last year, Rasoulof received an invitation from the Cannes Film Festival to participate in the jury of the “Un Certain Regard” program, but Iranian authorities banned him from leaving the country. They also pressured members of the film crew to persuade Rasoulof to withdraw his film “There Is No Evil” from the festival.
Rasoulof is one of the most prominent representatives of the Iranian creative intelligentsia who opposes the regime. The director was arrested in 2022 after signing a petition calling on the country’s security forces to show restraint towards demonstrators. In February 2023, he was released under house arrest due to health reasons. Earlier, he had been sentenced to three prison terms for violating Iranian censorship rules.
“There Is No Evil” is Mohammad Rasoulof’s tenth film. In 2020, his film “There Is No Evil” won the top prize at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. The plot of “There Is No Evil” revolves around a judge of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran who tries to carry out his duties against the backdrop of escalating political protests. Everything changes when the judge discovers that his gun has mysteriously disappeared.
