Update on January, 9: Iranian director Jafar Panahi, imprisoned last July while protesting against the regime, will be the honorary president of the international jury of Bif&st 2023, which will take place in Bari (Italy) since 24 March to 1 April. “A precise choice by the director of Bif&st, Felice Laudadio – a note reads – in solidarity with the great director who with his masterpieces won countless awards at the Venice, Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, San Sebastian, Tokyo festivals, of which calls for his immediate release from prison, and in support of the Iranian people’s struggle against the vicious regime of the ayatollahs.” (⇐Ansa.it)
“Cate Blanchett, Jason Momoa, Samuel L. Jackson, Jada Pinkett Smith and Bryan Cranston are among more than 50 entertainment industry members publicly supporting calls to end Iran’s execution of protestors, jailed during the country’s 100 days of demonstrations around women’s rights. In a video message conceived, organized and produced by Iranian-American screenwriter Nicole Najafi, director, writer and producer Ana Lily Amirpour, and actress-writer Mozhan Marnò, the collection of entertainers are captured through photos holding signs featuring the hashtag #StopExecutionsinIran. “We stand with the people of Iran in their fight for freedom,” the video reads. “Thousands of protesters have been arrested. Some have already been executed. Many more are in danger. But the world is watching.”
The effort, which encourages viewers to make their own hashtag signs and post photos to their social media, took 10 days to complete, includes 52 Hollywood names and features La Femme’s, “Tu t’en lasses,” the use of which was approved by the band the same day the trio DMed them. Work on the over one-minute video began shortly after the first protestor executions, and sprung, in part, from conversations between Najafi and a Ukrainian organizer and friend coordinating for #ArmUkraineNow. The piece includes a mix of Hollywood talent newly invested in raising awareness and those who have been doing ongoing work around the women-led Iranian protests.
(…) In response, Iranians took to the streets where they have been met with nationwide internet blackouts, social media restrictions, teargassing, water canons, the use of live ammunition and executions, beginning with Mohsen Shekari’s, which the government alleged was tied to a protest-related crime. (As of late December, Human Rights Iran reported around 500 deaths associated with the demonstrations, with thousands more arrested and 100 protestors at risk of execution — sentences and arrests that are ongoing.)
(…) Getting accurate, up-to-date news out of the country is complicated by the government’s relationship to the free press, says Najafi, as many major American newspapers lack on-the-ground correspondents, leaving them to “rely on anonymous sources and social media videos, which take longer to verify.” Iran has also imprisoned the highest number of journalists in the world as of 2022, according to the Committee to Project Journalists, which cites the regime’s jailings amid the women’s rights demonstrations as a major contributor to its spot on the prison census.
“World news, excluding Europe, takes up a disproportionately small amount of space and air time, but I think Americans are more curious about what’s happening in the world than the news industry believes or is willing to bet on,” Najafi notes.
(…) The complete list of #StopExecutionsinIran video participants is as follows: Cate Blanchett, Marion Cotillard, Jesse Williams, Claire Danes, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bryan Cranston, BarbieFerreira, Jason Segel, Jesse Eisenberg, Jurnee Smollett, Bradley Whitford, William Jackson Harper, Jodi Balfour, Abbi Jacobson, Sarah Snook, Murray Bartlett, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Michael McKean, Sofia Boutella, Karen O, Zazie Beetz, Norman Reedus, Joel Kim Booster, Jada Pinkett Smith, Shirley Manson, Kate Walsh, Kiernan Shipka, Ariana DeBose, J. Smith-Cameron, Suki Waterhouse, Amy Landecker, Ed Skrein, Kate Micucci, Tyler Posey, Martin Starr, Lisa Ann Walter, Alan Cumming, Brian Cox, Elijah Wood, Olivia Wilde, Sarah Silverman, Ray Fisher, John David Washington, Trai Byers, April Matthis, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Potts, Charles Browning, Peter Jay Fernandez, Kate Beckinsale, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Jason Momoa.”
Source: The Hollywood Reporter