Iranian film-maker won Cannes film festival’s Palme D’Or prize earlier this year for It Was Just an Accident
Iran has sentenced the Palme d’Or-winning film-maker Jafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison and a travel ban over “propaganda activities” against the country.
The sentence includes a two-year ban on leaving Iran and prohibition of Panahi from membership of any political or social groups, his lawyer Mostafa Nili told AFP, adding that they would file an appeal.
Nili said the charges against the Iranian director were engaging in “propaganda activities” against the state but did not elaborate. “Mr Panahi is outside Iran right now,” he added.
Panahi, 65, won the Cannes film festival’s top prize this year for It Was Just an Accident, a film in which five ex-inmates contemplate whether to exact revenge on a man they believe to be their former jailer.
