The organizers of Germany's Berlinale called on Saturday for the release of its best film prize winner in 2020, Mohammad Rasoulof, and his colleague after their arrest in Iran due to social media protest.
"It is shocking that artists are imprisoned for their peaceful opposition to violence," the Berlinale's management duo, Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, told dpa. They called on Iranian authorities to release the two directors immediately.
Rasoulof and Mostafa Al-Ahmad were arrested on charges of incitement of the people. Judicial authorities alleged that they endangered public order with an appeal against violence and also collaborated with opponents of the regime in doing so, according to the state news agency IRNA.
The Golden Bear winner and Al-Ahmad allegedly initiated the hashtag "Put down your gun" calling for police to end violence, supported by other Iranian film industry figures.
The deadly collapse of a shopping mall in south-western Iran in May triggered protests that have been violently suppressed by police and security forces.
The 49-year-old Rasoulof, who won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 2020 for his film "There is No Evil," is considered critical of the regime in the country. Despite being banned from working for many years, however, he always managed to make films. He himself lives alternately in Tehran and Hamburg.
