Filmmaker’s Family Blocked From Boarding Flight in Tehran: “Iran is Sick and Making Everyone Sick”
Filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi poses for a photo beside his mother Iran Hamzehie. Several members of internationally acclaimed filmmaker Bahman ...
Tag : Art
July 30, 2019
Iranian Heavy Metal Band Members Escape to Norway After Receiving Prison Sentences
Nikan Khosravi and Arash Ilkhani, members of the Iranian heavy metal band Confess, have left Iran to escape prosecution and prison for their art. “We took a risk and left the country so that we could continue ...
July 24, 2019
Mohammad Rasoulof’s Films Were Banned in Iran, Now He’s Been Sentenced to Prison
“We have to pay a price, and every person will pay some price,” says acclaimed filmmaker July 24, 2019 – The sentencing of award-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof to one year in prison for the content of his films has highlighted ...
June 20, 2019
Abdolreza Kahani: “We are Born Into Censorship”
In Iran, the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Culture imposes a strict process of review and approval for all screenplays before films can be legally produced in the country. Films that are produced also face censorship, and directors ...
February 22, 2019
Concert Cancellations Continue in Mashhad Due to Intolerance by Religious Conservatives
A concert by the popular Persian pop band Hoorosh was canceled by judicial order an hour before show time on February 20, 2019, in the city of Firouzeh, northeastern ...
January 14, 2019
Musician Ali Ghamsari Banned From Performing in Iran After Refusing to Remove Female Singer
"Our Sing-Along Didn’t Violate Any Rules" After the Iranian authorities banned musician Ali Ghamsari from performing “until further notice” for refusing to remove a female singer from his most recent concert in Tehran, he ...
January 11, 2019
Famed Iranian Playwright Mohammad Rahmanian Charged for Allegedly Featuring Female Soloist
Complaint Brought by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Prominent Iranian theater director and playwright Mohammad Rahmanian has been charged with “propaganda against the state” based on a complaint by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for allegedly featuring ...
March 30, 2018
Metal Band Member Sentenced to Six Years Prison in Iran Accused of Creating “Satanic Music”
Nikan Khosravi, a member of the Iranian metal band “Confess,” left Iran for Turkey to avoid being imprisoned for six years for producing metal music, he told the Center for Human Rights in Iran ...
January 24, 2018
She’s a Professional Iranian Singer But is Banned from Singing on Stage in Her Country
“I am a professional Iranian singer but I am only ...
December 8, 2017
Iran’s Culture Minister Says He’s Trying to “Transform” Conservative Clerics’ Views on Music
Before musicians can perform concerts in Iran without the threat of the authorities suddenly canceling them, someone has to convince conservative Shia Muslim clerics that music is not un-Islamic. “Some of the things that ...
May 5, 2017
Rouhani Government Touts Amendment Blocking Police From Unilaterally Stopping Music Concerts
Effectiveness of Legal Measure Remains Unclear The government of President Hassan Rouhani has announced the passage of a new amendment intended to block police from preventing sanctioned music concerts without a court ...
November 6, 2016
Ailing Music Distributor Refuses Hospital Treatment, Vows to Hunger Strike Until Demands Met
Imprisoned music distributor Mehdi Rajabian, who is currently on hunger strike with his brother Hossein Rajabian, has refused hospital treatment for his deteriorating health. The Rajabians were previously tricked into ...
August 15, 2016
Rouhani Battles Religious Hardliners Over Concert Cancellations in Iran
A simmering battle between the government of President Hassan Rouhani and hardline religious figures over music concerts is playing out in northeastern Iran. Most recently, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli questioned the the ...
February 22, 2016
Iranian Kurdish Filmmaker Sentenced to 223 Lashes and One Year in Prison
Keyvan Karimi, an Iranian Kurdish documentary filmmaker, has been sentenced to 223 lashes and one year in prison for “insulting the sacred.” Karimi’s initial six-year prison sentence by ...
January 28, 2016
Family of Imprisoned Iranian Producer: Canada Must Do More
The family of prisoner of conscience Mostafa Azizi is calling on Canada to exert more pressure on Iran to release him following the prisoner swap that led to the freedom of four Iranian-Americans held ...
January 28, 2016
Iranian Artists Call for Immediate Release of Music Distributors
A coalition of Iranian artists have called for the immediate release of three music producers sentenced to six years in prison for promoting underground music in Iran. “This kind of sentencing by the Judiciary is more believable ...
January 21, 2016
Faraghdani’s Handshake with Her Lawyer is Not a Crime, Judge Rules
Prisoner of conscience Atena Faraghdani and her lawyer, Mohammad Moghimi, have been acquitted of “illegitimate relations” for shaking hands during a prison visit. “My daughter was mentally crushed by this accusation but she’s very happy since ...
January 11, 2016
Detained Poet Describes Being Transported in a Cage and Watched “Like a Murderer”
Two-Day Ordeal Included Solitary Confinement and Incarceration with Criminals The poet Hila Sedighi, who was arrested and held for two days amidst an intensifying crackdown on independent artistic and cultural figures in Iran, has ...
January 9, 2016
Hila Sedighi Released on Bail
Hila Sedighi was released on bail on the evening of Saturday, January 9 in Tehran. The authorities did not provide any details regarding the reason for her arrest on January 7, 2016. Further updates regarding her developing ...
January 8, 2016
Young Poet Hila Sedighi Arrested at Airport in Tehran, Latest in String of Arrests
Photo by Reza Baharinejad from Hila Sedighi's Facebook page Freedom of Artistic Expression Under Assault in Iran Update: Hila Sedighi was released on bail ...
January 3, 2016
Judge’s Tirade Bodes Poorly for Independent Music Producers in Iran
An Appeals Court judge has admonished collaborators of a popular music site for ignoring repeated warnings that they were operating illegally and having ties with Iranian singers abroad opposed to the Islamic Republic. Mehdi Rajabian, musician/founder of BargMusic, ...
December 24, 2015
Popular Iranian Poet Arrested for Third Time amidst Hardline Crackdown against Artistic Community
The well-known Iranian poet Mohamadreza Haj Rostambegloo was released on bail from Karaj’s Central Prison last week, following his third arrest by the authorities in Iran in the last six years. His mother, Maryam Soltani, told the ...
December 12, 2015
Underground Music Distributors Await Appeal Decision for Six Years in Prison
Two musicians and a filmmaker who were jointly sentenced to six years in prison and fined 200 million rials (about $6,650) each for “insulting the sacred” and “propaganda against the state,” are awaiting a ruling by a ...
December 4, 2015
Kurdish Filmmaker’s Appeal Request Accepted; Colleagues Voice Support
Documentary filmmaker Keyvan Karimi’s request for an appeal against a six-year prison sentence for “insulting the sacred” has been accepted, a source close to the case told the International Campaign for ...
August 13, 2015
Imprisoned Artist Suffering from Lymphatic Disease
Atena Faraghdani The artist and civil activist Atena Faraghdani has developed signs of lymphatic disease in prison as she awaits her chance to challenge a 12-year prison sentence in ...