Jafar Panahi banned from Venice film festival

guardian.co.uk

The Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi has been denied the right to attend this year's Venice international film festival. Due to open the short film section of the festival with The Accordion, his request was refused by officials in Tehran.

Imprisoned earlier this year while making a film described by Iranian culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini, as "anti-regime", Panahi was released on bail in May following a two-week hunger strike and international outcry.

But his freedom does not appear to extend to the right to promote his work elsewhere. "Despite having been released, I am still not free to travel outside my country to attend film festivals," the director explained. "When a film-maker is not allowed to make films, he is mentally imprisoned. He may not be confined to a small cell, but he is still wandering in a larger prison."

This is not the first time Panahi has been conspicuously absent from international events. A member of the jury panel for this year's Cannes film festival, his seat was left deliberately empty by officials when incarceration kept Panahi from his duties. Accepting the best actress award for her role in Certified Copy, a film by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, Juliette Binoche condemned the Panahi's imprisonment: "His fault is to be an artist, to be independent." She described the government's treatment of Panahi as "an attack on art".

A winner of Venice's top film honour, the Golden Lion, for his 2000 film Circle, as well as the 1995 Camera d'Or at Cannes, Panahi is an active participant in international film dialogue. In a statement to festival officials, he expressed his gratitude to fellow film-makers: "In the most desperate moments of my imprisonment ... I drew courage thinking of myself as a proud member of this community."

Screened yesterday at Venice, eight-minute short film The Accordion explores the lives of two young street musicians. Filmed in Iran as part of UN-backed project Then and Now: Beyond Borders and Differences, Panahi's work was intended to promote ideas of tolerance and international dialogue.