An Iranian-Canadian director says he was unable to attend a film festival in London on Friday because Iranian authorities prevented his departure.
Director Mani Haghighi said in an Instagram video he was unable to attend his screening at the London Film Festival because Iranian authorities prevented him from boarding a flight in Tehran and then confiscated his passport.
The British Film Institute said in a statement that Haghighi will present the film “Subtraction,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.
While promoting the film, Haghighi told Variety his Iranian-Canadian identity was important to him. Haghighi went to school in Ontario and Quebec, and he told the entertainment publication he still has close friends in Canada.
Canadian music critic Carl Wilson said he went to McGill University with Haghighi in the late 1980s and has been friends with the director ever since, even assisting with editing some of the English subtitles for ” Subtraction”.
Wilson said Haghighi later attended school in Ontario and became a Canadian citizen in the 1990s.
In his video message, Haghighi said he was given no reasonable explanation by the authorities for the seizure of his passport.
Two weeks earlier, Haghighi had posted a video criticizing Iran’s mandatory head covering law and the recent crackdown on youth protests.
Public anger in Iran has accumulated around the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last month, who was detained by the country’s ethics police, an advocacy group said. Amini’s death led to a series of protests against the government, some in which girls and women dropped the mandatory headscarf in the streets as a show of solidarity.
As the movement entered its fifth week, at least 233 protesters had been killed – 32 of those who died under the age of 18, according to US-based HRANA.
Haghighi said he believes the authorities kept him in Tehran to monitor him and prevent the director from speaking out.
“The fact that I’m talking to you in this video right now undermines that plan,” Haghighi said.
Although he was unable to attend the festival in London or leave Iran, Haghighi said in a video that he was honored to be a witness to history in Iran, and that he would rather be in Tehran than anywhere else in the world. gender.
“Being in Tehran right now, is one of the greatest joys of my life,” Haghighi said in a video. “If this is a punishment for what I did, then by all means, keep it up.”
The London Film Festival said it supported Haghighi and all filmmakers in freely showing their films around the world.
Global Affairs Canada said it was aware of “reports by a Canadian citizen in Iran” and that officials were ready to provide consular assistance, but would not release any further information citing privacy concerns. private.
Spokeswoman Patricia Skinner also said in an emailed statement that Canadians should avoid all travel to Iran due to the volatile security situation.
Canada stands in solidarity with women and other protesters in Iran and urges the Iranian regime to listen to its citizens’ concerns and protect their right to peacefully protest, Skinner said.
Haghighi could not be reached for comment.
This Canadian Press report was first published on October 15, 2022.
