Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi calls for support for protests

A remarkable statement. Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi on Sunday (September 25) urged people around the world to “to be united” protests in Iran over the death of a young woman arrested by morality police. He also welcomed the “brave women” in his country.

“I invite all artists, filmmakers, intellectuals, civil rights activists around the world, (…) all those who believe in human dignity and freedom, to express their solidarity with the powerful and courageous women and men of Iran by making videos, by writing or in any other way”, he said in a new video message on Instagram. He paid tribute to “brave women leading the protests” and claim “quite simply fundamental rights of which the State has deprived them for years”.

“I deeply respect their struggle”

The filmmaker said most of the women protesting were “very young, 17, 20” : “I saw the outrage and hope on their faces and in the way they marched down the street. I deeply respect their struggle for freedom and the right to choose their own destiny, despite all the brutality that they suffer”.

The protests were sparked on September 16 in Iran, the day of the death in hospital of Mahsa Amini, 22, arrested on September 13 in Tehran for “wearing inappropriate clothing” and not respecting the strict dress code for women in Islamic Republic of Iran.