LOS ANGELES – Hundreds of high-profile figures from the global cinema industry called on Wednesday for Iran to release actress Taraneh Alidoosti, who was jailed over her support for the country’s three-month-old protest movement.
Actors Emma Thompson, Penelope Cruz, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen and directors Ken Loach and Mike Leigh were among a host of luminaries to sign an open letter demanding the star of The Salesman (2016) be freed.
“As members of the international arts community, we demand the immediate release of Academy Award-winning actress, mother and activist Taraneh Alidoosti, who was arrested on Dec 17, 2022, and has been taken into custody at Evin prison, Iran, where many other political prisoners also remain,” the letter says.
Alidoosti, 38, was arrested on Saturday, official media said, after making a string of social media posts supporting the protest movement – including removing her headscarf and condemning the execution of protesters.
The actress is one of the most prominent figures arrested in a crackdown by Iran’s hardline regime that has seen the detention of lawyers, cultural figures, journalists and campaigners.
“The Iranian authorities have strategically chosen to arrest Taraneh before Christmas to ensure her international peers would be distracted,” the letter continues.
“But we are not distracted. We are outraged. Taraneh Alidoosti, like all citizens of Iran, has a right to freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention.
“We hereby stand in solidarity with her and demand her immediate release and safe return to her family.”
Iran has been shaken by protests following Mahsa Amini’s death in custody on Sept 16. The 22-year-old Iranian Kurd had been arrested in Teheran for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s dress code for women.
At least 14,000 people have been arrested since the nationwide unrest began, the United Nations said in November.
The United States on Tuesday condemned Alidoosti’s arrest as “part of the regime’s effort to sow fear and suppress these peaceful protests”.
The open letter comes after The Salesman director Asghar Farhadi took to Instagram to demand Alidoosti’s freedom.
Alidoosti appeared in two of Farhadi’s earliest films before he won international renown for Beautiful City (2004) and Fireworks Wednesday (2006).
She then appeared in the 2009 film About Elly, which earned Farhadi the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival, before reuniting for The Salesman in 2016.
The Salesman won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2017. AFP
