Film & TV2 min(s) read
Why director nominated for Oscar is set to go to prison straight after awards ceremony
An Oscar-nominated director could go straight from the biggest awards ceremony in Hollywood to a jail cell tonight.
Director Jafar Panahi plans to travel directly home to Iran after the Oscars - in which his film, It Was Just An Accident, landed nominations for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay.
Panahi has already served two prison sentences in his home country of Iran, and told press he planned to return there.
Why is Oscar-nominated director Jafar Panahi set to go to prison?
Paranhi has been sentenced to one year in jail and a two-year travel ban for his work on It Was Just An Accident.
He filmed the feature illegally in Iran, which tells the story of five former Iranian prisoners who confront the man they believe tortured them during their imprisonment.
The director was sentenced in December for creating 'anti-government propaganda' with the film, since it was filmed without permits to skirt government censors and showed women not wearing hijabs on-screen.
What has the Oscar-nominated director said about his prison sentence?
Paranhi has stated his intention to travel back home to serve his one-year prison sentence and appeal his conviction.
He had been living abroad since the film's Cannes premiere in May. He was cut off from family when internet blackouts began in Iran in January, with the country now embroiled in a quickly escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The US and Israel recently launched a missile strike on Iran, killing its supreme leader.
Paranhi has told Bloomberg, prior to the Oscars, that he would never have committed to the long promotional campaign for the film had he known what was going to happen in Iran.
“I cannot be so selfish to say goodbye all of a sudden and leave,” he said of the film's international acclaim. “As soon as this campaign ends, I will have to find a way to return.”