Navid Mihandoust Released & Pardoned!

ICFR congratulates Navid and his family with his release after more than a year of imprisonment in Iran

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 with the authorities against feminist activist Masih Alinejad led to his sentence being executed. Last December, Navid was temporarily released on parole, before being returned to prison after only a few days, leading to much stress, confusion and uncertainty for Navid and his loved ones.

The family's ceaseless efforts to get Navid pardoned by the authorities, aided by the support of the Iranian and international film industry (including a solidarity presentation of Navid's film Café at this year's IMPACTE! Human Rights Film Festival of Catalunya, in Barcelona), have now finally resulted in Navid being released from prison and having the rest of his sentence pardoned.

The ICFR team congratulates Navid and his family on this long-overdue resolution; we hope that Navid, as well as his Iranian colleague film workers, will be spared such ordeals in the future as they make the films they need to make. We wish Navid a good process of recovery and healing, back towards the life he chooses to live.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk