An award-winning Iranian director, whose film is showing at the Cannes Film Festival, has fled Iran, only days after being sentenced to eight years in prison on national security charges.
Mohammad Rasoulof, whose film Seed of the Sacred Fig is being considered for the highest prize at Cannes in France, said he had fled Iran overland as his passport had been seized in 2017.
His trial and conviction was seen by many as politically motivated.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Rasoulof said he is a resident of a "borderless, cultural Iran", who is against a regime that has intensified its oppression of dissent and prominent cultural figures in recent weeks.
Millions of Iranians are "impatiently waiting to bury you and your machine of oppression in the depths of history. Then like a coffin from that soil a new life will begin," he said, sharing a video of snowy mountain path from an undisclosed location.
It was not clear how he managed to flee from Iran.
On Tuesday, Rasoulof confirmed he had escaped to Europe after a "long and complicated journey," and said he was worried about the safety and well-being of colleagues still in Iran.
"The global film community must provide strong support to the makers of these films," he told AFP.
Last week, Iranian authorities sentenced Rasoulof to eight years in prison, flogging, and a fine after he was convicted of collusion and threatening national security.
Rights groups say the Iranian government often hands down national security charges to regime critics and dual nationals without providing any evidence.
Since 2010, Rasoulof has been repeatedly arrested and officially banned from making films. His previous work has strongly criticised Iran's record of human rights abuses, including its widespread use of the death penalty.
The film maker, who has had several works screened at Cannes, said he will now complete the last pro-production stages for his latest production. He thanked those who helped him escape.
His lawyer Babak Paknia said the nominated film's cast and crew had been summoned for questioning, barred from leaving Iran, and pressured to get Mr Rasoulof to remove the film from Cannes, where it is competing for the Palme D'Or.
"We are very happy and much relieved that Mohammad has safely arrived in Europe after a dangerous journey. We hope he will be able to attend the Cannes premiere," read a statement from the French distributors of his film.
Details of the film's plot and script have been kept secret to protect the cast and crew, they added.
It comes as Iranian authorities intensify their crackdown against critics, including popular musicians and actresses.
Rapper Toomaj Salehi was sentenced to death last month, despite international appeals for clemency. He was accused of joining the widespread Women, Life Freedom protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.
Mr Salehi, who has reportedly been blindfolded and tortured in jail, released several songs referencing the demonstrations and Ms Amini herself, the most notable saying "her only crime was her hair flowing in the wind."
His sentence came shortly after Shervin Hajipour was also sentenced to almost four years in prison for "propaganda" and encouraging protests.
His protest song, Baraye, which went viral and won a Grammy, referenced a long list of grievances against Tehran.
Prominent actresses have also been imprisoned for not wearing the hijab and supporting the 2022 protests, which posed the biggest domestic protests against the regime in its five-decade rule.
Iran has since executed several people for joining the demonstrations, putting to death a record number of people in recent months.
One person was executed every five hours in the last two weeks of April, the Iran Human Rights NGO warned.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
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The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
If you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.
The hotels
Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes.
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 611bhp
Torque: 620Nm
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Price: upon application
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 0
Wolves 2 (Traore 80', 90 4')
SPECS
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Match info
Uefa Champions League Group H
Juventus v Valencia, Tuesday, midnight (UAE)
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
