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JAFAR PANAHI: PROUD TO BE A FILMMAKER
01/09/2010
I was here at the Venice Film Festival ten years ago with my film The Circle. This year, my short film The Accordion, which I made before my imprisonment, is being shown at this great festival. Although I have been released from prison now, I am still not free to travel outside of the country and attend film festivals. Also, I have been officially barred from making films in the past five years. When a filmmaker is not allowed to make films, he is mentally imprisoned. He may not be confined to a small cell, but he is still wandering in a larger prison.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported me as a filmmaker, especially Alberto Barbera and Marco Müller, who have played instrumental roles in the success of Venice Film Festival.
I would like to also thank the international community of filmmakers for their generous support while I was in prison. Although my imprisonment was a bitter experience, it bore sweet fruit for me when it helped me realize that we, the filmmakers and film lovers of the world, despite all our cultural differences, are a united community speaking with one voice. In my most desperate hours in prison, when I was on a hunger strike, I kept seeing myself as a proud member of this community and, therefore, tried to maintain my professional dignity and never waver in my resolve to stay true to myself and my profession. I think all the support I received also came from individuals and organizations that strongly believe in cinema and a filmmaker’s right to free expression. Let’s hope the governments of the world also someday share this belief.
Jafar Panahi
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