Iranian filmmaker and actor Mani Haghighi has been prevented from leaving Iran to attend the BFI London Film Festival, because of his support for the protests sparked by the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.
His latest film 'Subtraction' was scheduled to premiere on 15 October at the BFI London Film Festival. The filmmaker was headed to the airport gate on Thursday to attend its screening in London, Haghighi said, when he was barred from leaving.
The 53-year-old Haghighi said in a video message broadcast to festival attendees and posted on Twitter by the British Film Institute, “The Iranian authorities prevented me from boarding a flight to London on Friday. The officials did not tell me the real reason for this rude behavior.”
On Friday, October 14, the British Film Institute took to Twitter and shared a video of Mani Haghighi and captioned it, “Mani Haghighi was scheduled to attend the festival to screen his latest film.”minus“But the Iranian authorities confiscated his passport and he couldn’t go.”
Iran is currently in turmoil following the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody. Protests have been held across the country and around the world to denounce the oppression and violence brought by the Iranian regime.
