128. Iran not a place for filmmakers 

After the Bangladesh it is the second absentia sentence.

Iran has sentenced the Palme d’Or-winning film-maker Jafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison. It has also announced a travel ban.

According to the media report the sentence includes a two-year ban on leaving Iran and prohibition of Panahi from membership of any political or social groups.

The charges against Panahi were engaging in propaganda activities against the state.

Right now, Panahi is outside Iran.

Iranian film-makers, prominent media figures and celebrities are closely monitored.

Last year, director Mohammad Rasoulof fled Iran to escape a prison sentence on charges of collusion against national security.

This year at Cannes film festival Panahi’s film It Was Just an Accident, in which five ex-inmates contemplate whether to exact revenge on a man they believe to be their former jailer, won the festival’s top award.

At present he is touring countries promoting his film.

The film has been selected by France as its official nomination for the Academy Awards.

The film is widely expected to make the shortlist for the best international feature. 

Panahi is not new to the international viewers. 

His films have attracted wide attention at European film festivals.

He first showcased his debut film The White Balloon in Cannes in 1995, which won an award for best first feature.

The problem started in 2010 when Panahi was banned from making films in Iran because he supported mass anti-government protests and made a series of films that critiqued the state of modern Iran.

For that he was convicted of propaganda against the system and sentenced to six years in jail but he was released on bail after two months. He was also handed a 20-year ban on film-making.