Latest in Jafar Panahi Jail Sentence

UPDATE: Martin Scorsese, who spoke out in support of Jafar Panahi both when he was first arrested and right after he was convicted, has added his support to the petition being circulated by Amnesty International. His participation is reflected in the amended release below. EARLIER: Amnesty International has gotten…

The conviction and 6-year sentence given acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi and his colleague Muhammad Rasoulof happened when most major directors had left town for the holiday, and has made it difficult to mobilize a concerted response. But help is on the way, as those imprisoned filmmakers plan their appeal…

Martin Scorsese has issued a statement about the 6-year prison sentences slapped on Iranian filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammed Rasoulof. Along with Steven Spielberg and Francis Coppola, Scorsese spoke out on Panahi’s behalf at Cannes, when the Iranian filmmaker was first arrested. “I was shocked and disheartened by…

EXCLUSIVE: The Christmas holiday has so far made it difficult to rally a collective outcry from directors Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Francis Coppola, who spoke out for Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi when he was first arrested. But two Iranian filmmakers who are debuting politically-charged films at next…

American filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola spoke out publicly in support of the Iranian director when he was first arrested. Now Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to a 6-year prison sentence by an Iranian court and banned from making films for two decades. Panahi won Camera…