Award-winning director Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to prison in Iran ahead of Cannes

By JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press

The award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to eight years in prison and lashings ahead of his planned trip to the Cannes film festival, his lawyer tells The Associated Press. Rasoulof is known for his film “There Is No Evil.” He has become the latest artist targeted in a widening crackdown on all dissent in the Islamic Republic following years of mass protests, including over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini. Iranian authorities haven’t acknowledged the sentence but Rasoulof and other artists had co-signed a letter urging authorities to “put your gun down” amid demonstrations over a 2022 building collapse. In the time since then artists, athletes, celebrities and others have been called for questioning or faced prison sentences.