news, cases| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk
The ICFR asks the global film community to speak out in support of South-Korean filmmaker Jung Yoon-suk, and calls upon the authorities of South Korea to immediately and unconditionally drop all the charges leveled against him. As a result of his attempt to document the political riots in the country in January of this year, Jung Yoon-suk will be sentenced to a one-year imprisonment in court on Friday August 1, without the option to convert the sentence to a fine. Jung Yoon-suk is a docume...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
>>> Support Maryam & Behtash by adding your signature here <<<< On March 30th, Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, as well as their producer Gholamreza Mousavi, have been sentenced by Iran's Revolutionary Court to a (suspended) prison sentence of more than two years, as well as hefty monetary fines, for their film My Favourite Cake. Despite a large outcry in their support both internationally and within Iran, the judge has not ruled in favor of the filmmaking team, althou...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
After a full year of lobbying by the filmmaker’s relatives and the ICFR, we can finally share the good news that Iranian filmmaker Navid Mihandoust has been released from prison, and the rest of his prison sentence has been pardoned, by the authorities this last March 31st. Navid has served a little over one year of his original 3,5-year sentence, a punishment in response to his having made an unreleased documentary about the “Women/Life/Freedom”-movement. His refusal to collaborate wi...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) expresses its deep concern for, and condemnation of the hostile treatment of Palestinian filmmakers Hamdan Ballal (No Other Land), attacked by Israeli settlers and arrested by the Israeli army on March 24, later released; and Abdallah Motan, arrested on January 13 and currently detained in military detention without charges or trial. The ICFR urgently calls on the international community to guarantee the protection of filmmakers (as we...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Afghan filmmaker Sayed Rahim Saidi, sentenced to three years in prison just last December. Ever since his arrest in 2024, Saidi has been subjected to torture and other brutal treatment, and is currently being denied the healthcare he urgently requires while incarcerated. The 57-year-old filmmaker, journalist and broadcaster has been a visible figure in Afghanistan's film and media in...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
>>> Support Maryam & Behtash by adding your signature here <<<< The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) reiterates its unequivocal support for Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha, currently awaiting the start of their trial with Iran's Revolutionary Court this March 1. The charges levelled against them concern the production and distribution of their Berlinale-winning film, My Favourite Cake, currently in theatres and on VOD platforms across the world. ...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) is deeply concerned for the well-being of young Palestinian documentary filmmaker Abdallah Motan. He has been arrested by the Israeli authorities on January 13 and sentenced to six months of "administrative detention" without trial or charges. 30-year-old Abdallah Motan is a film director, DOP and photographer from Ramallah, who has worked on documentary films in his own country as well as internationally. He has particularly strong ti...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
The ICFR has received reports that on January 5th of this year, the life prison sentence of Shin Daewe, one of Myanmar's pioneering female documentary filmmakers, has been shortened to 15 years. It is a small step in the right direction for Shin Daewe, whom the ICFR continues to stand with as we call upon the Myanmar authorities for a complete and unconditional repealing of the sentence and the accusations levelled against her. The news is part of a broader amnesty on the part of Myanmar's cu...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) calls on the Chinese authorities for the immediate and unconditional release of our colleague, Chen Pinlin. First arrested and submitted to questioning in November 2023, the 33-year-old documentary filmmaker has now been officially sentenced, in a closed trial, to 3,5 years in prison for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble", an accusation often levelled by the Chinese authorities against journalists and media workers critical of Ch...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
The ICFR expresses its support and deep concern for Uyghur filmmaker Ikram Nurmehmet, whom the Chinese authorities have sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison on politically motivated and unfounded claims of “actively participating in terrorist activities”. According to sources closer to the trial, Nurmehmet’s case is based on a false confession that was forced out of him under torture, as he was held captive by the authorities in a dark room for twenty days straight. The ICFR stro...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
news, cases| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk
The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) once again asks the international film industry’s attention in support of our colleagues in Iran, whose situations have far from improved in recent weeks. With the increasingly fraught circumstances in and around Iran, the Iranian authorities have been continuing their persecution of filmmakers and their teams, resulting in (renewed) travel bans, expedited arrests and reversed judicial decisions. Such is the case for Maryam Moghadam ...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
UPDATE (NOVEMBER 2024) After Andrei Gnyot's extradition detention in Serbia reached the legal maximum of one year last October 31, the Serbian court was forced to cancel his arrest — which provided Andrei, expecting Serbian prosecution to appeal the decision, with the much-needed space to leave Serbia and seek refuge in an unnamed EU state — as per his lawyer, Filip Sofijanovic, on November 1, 2024. The ICFR, though relieved to hear about Andrei's current move away from immediate danger, ...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
Just before his latest film THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG premieres at this month’s Cannes Film Festival, Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to eight years in prison, alongside corporal and material punishment. ICFR decries this unjust and deplorable step taken against Rasoulof, and is additionally concerned for the safety and wellbeing of his film's cast and crew, who are being subjected to the authorities' scrutiny and persecution as well. This is a grave escalation in the...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
UPDATE The friends and family of Jade Castro, united under the banner of the Free Jade Castro NOW campaign, have informed us that as of March 12, 2024, Jade and his three friends have all been released from their unfair and unfounded detention. ICFR wishes them all well, and will continue to monitor possible future human rights violations in regards to Jade Castro or other members of the Filipino film industry. Film director, teacher, screenwriter, and producer Jade Castro and three friend...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
Shin Daewe, one of Myanmar’s pioneering female documentary filmmakers, has been sentenced for life by a prison court for violating the counter-terrorism law by possessing a drone. She was arrested at a bus station in Yangon on 15 October 2023 when soldiers found a filming drone in her luggage. It then took the Myanmar authorities almost three months to bring the case to trial on 10 January 2024. She was allowed no legal representation during the closed trial of a military tribunal and was s...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) is alarmed about the Iranian authorities’ increased efforts in the past weeks to detain, persecute, and otherwise limit the freedom of film professionals. Writer/Directors Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha have been banned from travelling and are facing a court trial in relation to their upcoming film; detained filmmaker Zahra Shafiee Dehaghani is expected to appear in court any day now; writer/director Navin Mihandoust is in the ...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
We are shocked to hear from our colleagues at IIFMA, the Iranian Independent Filmmakers' Association, about her case and to read on Iranwire that Zahra Shafiee Dehaghani "was arrested during protests marking the one-year anniversary of #MahsaAmini’s death," and that "she and fellow prisoners have been subject to "brutal" physical abuse by female security personnel." We are also aware of other cases, including the travel ban on Iranian producer and member of the board of Iranian Cinema Pr...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk and its founding institutions, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and European Film Academy, protest vehemently against the arrest of Iranian filmmaker Navid Mihandoust and demand his immediate and unconditional release. Navid Mihandoust has over 20 years of experience in cinema and television, working as a film director, director assistant, and screenwriter in several TV series and mo...| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) — Cases
news, cases| International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk