Jafar Panahi Demands for ‘Three Faces’ Set Designer Leila Naghdipari to Be Released From Jail in Iran: ‘I’m Worried About Iranian Cinema’
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has launched an impassioned appeal for production designer Leila Naghdipari to be released from jail following her recent arrest during demonstrations marking the one year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death.
Naghdipari was one of hundreds of Iranians arrested on Sept. 16 during widespread protests marking the anniversary of Amini’s death while being detained for allegedly violating the country’s hijab law that mandates covered hair. “Today, Iranian independent cinema is more that ever struggling to breathe under the boots of the security forces,” Panahi said in his appeal.
Panahi added that it’s been more than 10 days since the arrest of Naghdipari, who was the production designer on his 2018 film “Three Faces,” a road trip through the repressive territory of patriarchal rural Iran.
Panahi shot the film, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival, in violation of his 20-year filmmaking ban. “All the efforts of her husband Majid Barzegar, filmmaker and producer, as well as other personalities from Iranian cinema, have been to no avail,” Panahi went on to note.
Read more on variety.com