Dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has confirmed that he was unable to accept an invitation from the Cannes Film Festival to participate in its Un Certain Regard jury after being barred from leaving Iran.
News of the incident first broke via the Farsi-language news service of Radio France Internationale (RFI). The report said the festival had hoped to secure Rasoulof’s attendance following his temporary release from Tehran’s Evin jail in February due to ill health, following a seven-month stint at the notoriously tough facility.
Rasoulof confirmed to Deadline that the report was true and said no explanation was given for rejecting the travel request. The continued travel restrictions for Rasoulof follow news last week that friend and fellow dissident director Jafar Panahi had left Iran for the first time in 14 years following the lifting of his travel ban.
His lawyer denied rumors that he had left for good. Rasoulof has been in the crosshairs of Iran’s hardline Islamic Republic government throughout his career for challenging its draconian rule with his work.
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