Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been prevented from leaving his home country to be a member of the Un Certain Regard jury at the Cannes Film Festival.
According to the Farsi service of Radio France International (RFI), Cannes invited Rasoulof to join the Un Certain Regard jury following his release from jail in Tehran in February.
Rasoulof was jailed last year over an appeal he and documentary filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad posted on social media speaking out against the repression of civil protestors in the country.
RFI said that Cannes had hoped that Rasoulof would be able to leave the country like fellow Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who flew to France on April 25 following the lifting of a travel ban.
However, Rasoulef is still facing a ban on leaving the country.
Rasoulof’s passport was confiscated after his 2017 film A Man Of Integrity premiered at Cannes, where it won the top prize in Un Certain Regard.
In 2020 he won the Golden Bear at Berlin for There Is No Evil which, like his previous films, casts a critical eye on the consequences of life under authoritarian rule.
Shortly after receiving the award he was sentenced to a year in prison for “propaganda against the system.” He was also banned from making films and travelling abroad.
Screen has approached Cannes for comment.
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