F R E E Jafar Panahi

F R E E Jafar Panahi

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* The White Balloon

Cannes film festival 2011: Jafar Panahi wins Carrosse d'Or

Iranian director imprisoned for six years for criticising the country's ruling regime awarded prize for courage
.# guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 20 April 2011 15.15 BST -Jafar Panahi ... Iranian director, will be honoured at Cannes for the second time. Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

The jailed Iranian director Jafar Panahi is to win the Carrosse d'Or at this year's Cannes film festival.

1. The White Balloon
2. Production year: 1995
3. Country: Rest of the world
4. Cert (UK): U
5. Runtime: 84 mins
6. Directors: Jafar Panahi
7. Cast: Aida Mohammadkhani
8. More on this film

Panahi, who won the Camera d'Or at Cannes in 1995 for The White Balloon, was convicted of making propaganda against the ruling regime in Iran last December. He was jailed for six years and banned from directing films for 20 years.

A prominent supporter of the protests that followed Iran's disputed presidential election in 2009, Panahi was arrested for joining in mourning for demonstrators killed in July that year. He was subsequently released but barred from leaving Iran. In February 2010 he was arrested along with his family and colleagues and taken to Tehran's Evin prison. He was released on bail three months later after starting a hunger strike, but was later convicted of the propaganda offence.

In her best actress acceptance speech at Cannes last year, Juliette Binoche criticised the Iranian regime for holding Panahi. His place on the jury for this year's Berlin film festival was kept empty in protest at his incarceration. In a similar gesture, Cannes will keep a seat empty in the middle of the orchestra at the Croisette theatre, the screening venue for the festival's Directors' Fortnight.

The Carrosse d'Or (or Golden Coach), awarded by the Société des Réalisateurs de Films (SRF), rewards film-makers' courage and independence of thought. Previous recipients include Clint Eastwood, Nanni Moretti, David Cronenberg and Jim Jarmusch.

Panahi's 2005 film Offside, about a female fan who attends a football match disguised as a boy and is arrested, will be screened at Cannes on 12 May. The following day there will be a press conference to raise awareness of Panahi's situation.

The SRF said: "Because no film-maker, no author can remain indifferent to the violence of such a decision, the SRF has promised to break the silence imposed on Panahi, for freedom of expression."