Iran refuses to allow directors to travel to Berlin film festival

Two Iranian film directors whose work is in the competition at this year's Berlin International Film Festival have been banned from travelling to the festival and threatened by the Iranian regime, reported dpa, quoting the festival organizers.

The filmmakers Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha have been banned from travelling to Berlin by the Iranian government, the festival, known as the Berlinale, announced on Thursday.

Their passports have been confiscated and they were threatened with legal proceedings in retaliation for their work as artists, the world renowned film festival said.

Berlinale's joint leaders, Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek, reacted with shock and dismay in a statement:

"We call for the Iranian authorities to return the passports and to end all restrictions preventing Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha from freely traveling to Berlin this February."

Moghaddam and Sanaeeha's latest film, "My Favourite Cake," is entered in the competition at the prestigious festival this year. A previous film by the Iranian duo, "Ballad of a White Cow," was presented in competition at the Berlinale in 2021.

The Iranian government have conducted a harsh crackdown after widespread anti-regime protests that began following the death of the young Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who died in September 2022 after being arrested by Iran's so-called morality police because a few strands of her hair were visible from under her headscarf.