The celebrated Iranian movie director Mohammad Rasoulof stated he had fled the nation to Europe, after a courtroom sentenced him to eight years in jail for his films.
Mr. Rasoulof — identified for his award-winning movie “There Is No Evil” — had been barred from leaving Iran in 2017 after his work criticized the authoritarian rule within the nation. His lawyer, Babak Paknia, wrote final week on social media that an Iranian courtroom had sentenced Mr. Rasoulof to imprisonment, whipping and a effective for films that it known as “examples of collusion with the intention of committing a criminal offense towards the nation’s safety.”
On Monday, Mr. Rasoulof introduced his escape from Iran in an Instagram put up that featured a video of snow-capped mountains and stated he had reached a “protected place.” He stated in a separate assertion that he had arrived in Europe “after a protracted and sophisticated journey.”
“I had to decide on between jail and leaving Iran,” he stated within the assertion, which was shared by his spokeswoman, Claudia Tomassini. “With a heavy coronary heart, I selected exile.”
Mr. Rasoulof stated that he strongly objected to the “unjust latest ruling” that had pushed him to flee, however that Iran’s judiciary had issued “so many merciless and unusual selections” that he didn’t really feel prefer it was his place to complain about his sentence.
“The scope and depth of repression has reached some extent of brutality the place folks count on information of one other heinous authorities crime day by day,” he added.
He didn’t present additional particulars on his location or reply to a message from The New York Instances.
“There Is No Evil” — which targeted on executioners in Iran — received the highest prize within the Berlin Worldwide Movie Pageant in 2020. Mr. Rasoulof, who had directed the movie in secret, was not allowed to depart the nation to attend that award ceremony.
Iran’s movie trade is acclaimed internationally and closely policed at residence, the place the authorities can ban screening and filming.
Mr. Rasoulof’s new film, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” is ready to premiere on the Cannes Movie Pageant in France this month. Ms. Tomassini, his spokeswoman, stated on Tuesday that it was unclear whether or not he would attend the competition.
Among the movie’s producers have been interrogated by the authorities and a few of its actors have been barred from leaving the nation, Mr. Paknia stated in social media posts final month.
Mr. Rasoulof informed The New York Instances in 2020 that early on in his profession he had used allegorical tales to keep away from confronting energy straight, however finally felt that was “a type of accepting the tyrannical regime.”
He went on to supply sharp critiques of Iran’s clerical rulers together with his movies, together with “Manuscripts Don’t Burn” and “A Man of Integrity” — which received an award at Cannes in 2017.
Over time, the Iranian authorities had charged him with propaganda towards the state, confiscated his passport, arrested and prosecuted him.
Mr. Rasoulof addressed Iran’s rulers within the Instagram put up that introduced his escape, saying that he had been compelled to depart due to “your oppression and barbarity,” however had now joined the ranks of exiled Iranians “impatiently ready to bury you and your machine of oppression within the depths of historical past.”
Leily Nikounazar contributed reporting from Brussels.
