Jafar Panahi’s Imprisonment

Jafar Panahi — one of Iran’s most celebrated, and controversial, directors — was arrested in early March and has been placed in solitary confinement, a situation that is taking a tremendous psychological and physical toll on him.

Several of Panahi’s films have been banned in Iran due to their critical observations of Iranian society, but they’ve gone on to gain acclaim the world over. Indeed, it’s probably safe to say that Panahi is the face of Iranian cinema for many non-Iranians, something that I’m sure the Iranian government is less than pleased about.

It’s an incredibly sad situation, and a reminder that there are places in the world where telling the truth in movies — and art in general — is a very dangerous proposition. Via