"I stand with Taraneh and demand his release along with that of my fellow filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, and all the other lesser-known prisoners whose only crime is that they wanted a better life," said Asghar Farhadi on Instagram on Tuesday.
Figure of Iranian cinema ("Leila and her brothers"), Taraneh Alidoosti, 38, was arrested on Saturday for publications on social networks in support of protests denouncing in particular the execution of demonstrators, or in which we see her removing her sail.
“If showing such support is a crime, then tens of millions of people in this country are criminals,” also wrote the two-time Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker, who notably starred the actress in “The Client” (Oscar for the best foreign language film in 2017).
Taraneh Alidoosti is the most famous personality arrested in connection with the protest movement agitating Iran for three months.
Several personalities from Iranian cinema have also been worried or arrested by the authorities, even before the current wave of protest, such as directors Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi, still in detention.
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi at the closing ceremony of the 75th Cannes Film Festival, May 28, 2022 © Valery HACHE / AFP/Archives
Since this weekend, calls for the release of the actress fuse, both in Iran and internationally.
"The brave actress from Iran has been arrested," posted on Instagram her colleague Golshifteh Farahani, who began her career in Iran before fleeing the country and settling in France.
The British pop group Pet Shop Boys denounced a "fascist government" in Iran following this arrest, while the Cannes festival called for the "immediate release" of Taraneh Alidoosti.
The protest in Iran was sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died after being arrested in Tehran by vice police.
Since then, hundreds of people have been killed, thousands arrested and two 23-year-old men have been hanged.
© 2022 AFP