Since its inception in 2012, the Middle-Eastern Cinema Academy Association has been promoting, screening and producing Kurdish films and filmmakers across the region and elsewhere. Their work involves the annual Amed Film Festival, which pops up in city halls and other locations across southeastern Türkiye, as well as the production of short films and series revolving around Kurdish stories and the Kurdish language.

In recent years, policy changes in Türkiye on a local and federal level have often impeded the work of Aksoy and her colleagues, with last-minute cancellations of screenings and festival editions and difficulties raising funding for new productions. The Association aligns itself with marginalized peoples across Türkiye and elsewhere, and its focus now includes Armenian filmmakers as well as collaborations with Catalonia, among others.

The film Aurora’s Sunrise, which won the Audience Award at the 2023 Movies That Matter Film Festival in The Hague, blends animation and archival footage from a 1919 film in the public domain to shine a light on how Aurora Mardiganian survived Türkiye’s genocide of the Armenians thanks to the compassion shown by ordinary Kurdish and Turkish people. As the filmmaker, Inna Sahakyan, tells us, “Ms. Aksoy has no connection to the production of the film and is being prosecuted simply for her role in the festival application (...) It is heartbreaking to see a cultural worker targeted for sharing a story of survival and resilience.”

The backlash against Rojhilat Aksoy’s and the Association’s decision to screen the film last December is part of a deeply worrying development in which Kurdish and Armenian voices and stories are actively oppressed by the Turkish authorities. Since the start of 2026, the ICFR has received reports of at least four Kurdish filmmakers whose films have been banned from being screened in Türkiye or included in Turkish film festivals.

As our friends at Turkish film association Altyazı Fasikül tell us: “The revival of Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code through this case signals a new phase in Turkey's climate of censorship (...) The prosecution of a film specifically for its screening in Diyarbakır points to a deliberate suppression of the cultural and political rights of Kurdish people in Turkey. We are confronted with a systematic effort to block any reckoning with history.” 

Rojhilat Aksoy has rejected the accusations, stating that organizing the public screening was an act protected by freedom of speech and artistic expression, as well as being conducted within the legal framework of cultural and academic discussion. Article 301, the law cited in the indictment, has been used in previous cases involving writers, journalists, artists and scholars whose work touched on sensitive historical topics in Türkiye. Altyazı Fasikül adds that back in 2007, this article even fueled the hatred leading to the murder of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

The ICFR calls on the Turkish authorities to end their oppressive treatment of Kurdish and Armenian film workers, and stands firmly with Rojhilat Aksoy and her colleagues in their right to freely express themselves and bring any story — Kurdish, Armenian, or otherwise — to audiences near and far. We call on the Turkish authorities, especially the regional authorities of Diyarbakır, to immediately drop all the charges against Rojhilat Aksoy, and for the international film community to stand with her.
 

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

We look with profound dread at what humanity stands to lose when the future of Iranian cinema is killed on the very streets the world first came to care for through the country’s cinema. We acknowledge the tens of artists who have been killed during this period of unrest, including the filmmaker Javad Ganji, whose death is a profound loss to his family, his colleagues, and the artistic community in Iran. They are among the thousands of civilians, artists, journalists and others reportedly murdered by the Iranian regime's brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests around the country.

Furthermore, we are alarmed by the ongoing detention of tens of artists, including filmmakers currently held by the state, including (per IIFMA's reporting) six of our film colleagues whose names we are permitted to include here:

• Dawood Abbasi, filmmaker;
• Nasrdin Bagherzadeh, actress;
• Melika Malek Mohammadi, assistant director;
• Ghazal Shahi, actress;
• Ghazale Vakili, filmmaker;
• Navid Zarehbin, filmmaker.

This deprivation of liberty lacks any semblance of transparency or due process, leaving ample grounds for grave concerns regarding their safety and physical integrity. This violence is deepened by a systematic effort to dismantle the professional lives of those who remain.

In spite of the Iranian regime's nationwide internet shutdown, we are receiving disconcerting reports on the use of gruelling interrogation and confiscation of property and equipment, as well as continuous threats of imprisonment, as a tool for political pressure. These tactics are being used against a wide range of Iranian filmmakers, including Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam whom the ICFR has been actively campaigning for in recent years. To seize a filmmaker’s tools or their personal property is a deliberate attempt to strip a community of its voice and its capacity to function.

We demand that governments allow safe haven to those Iranian filmmakers who want and need it, and we urge them to spare no effort in the use of diplomacy to help save lives that will shape a better future.

We call on the international film community to raise their voice and stand with our colleagues in Iran—with their demands, and with their dreams of a different, free, and peaceful future. We encourage them to take action by sharing this call via their networks, as well as by signing/sharing the petition already undersigned by thousands of film workers and institutions across our global community.

Iranian filmmakers will never be alone.

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

If you can, please sign and spread the petition and support Jung Yoon-suk!

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In the last days of 2025, the ICFR calls upon the global film community to take a stand and sign the petition in support of our Korean colleague Jung Yoon-suk. As reported in our original campaign, Jung Yoon-suk sought to document the civil riots outside Seoul's Western District Court last January, as is his custom as a documentary filmmaker - but in the eyes of the Korean court, this has been deemed "aggravated trespassing". Jung Yoon-suk and his legal team are appealing the original verdict and the one-year prison sentence now requested by prosecutors; the new judgment will be delivered on December 24.

Jung Yoon-suk's case has been drawing the attention of the Korean and international film industry. Earlier this year, the Korean cultural sector spoke strongly in support of their colleague, citing a fear that such a sentencing would form a dangerous precedent for the status of filmmakers and artists attempting to document the country's lived realities. The petition at the time was signed by a wide range of cultural figures and institutions, including director Park Chan-wook, the Association of Korean Independent Film & Video (KIFV), and the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).

Jung Yoon-suk and his legal team are currently appealing the unjust conviction handed down at first instance last summer, in which he was sentenced to a fine of 2 million KRW, despite the absence of any thorough investigation or interview. At the appellate hearing, prosecutors requested a one-year prison sentence for Jung Yoon-suk. On December 24, the court will reach its new verdict.

According to Jung Yoon-suk's legal team, the court ruling this summer claimed that filming the civil riots "did not constitute a 'justifiable act'", and went on to state that "an artist, unlike the press, does not serve the public interest". As part of their appeal, which asserts that there is an error in the application of the law in Jung Yoon-suk's case, the legal team goes on to share with the ICFR that "to the best of our knowledge, there has been no precedent in South Korea [that] a documentary filmmaker has been ultimately convicted and punished for filming the assemblies [of civilian protesters]".

Jung Yoon-suk's films have revolved around such real-life topics as the Zijonpa clan case. His debut feature, Non-Fiction Diary, was invited to screen at the Berlinale International Film Festival. From 2013-2017, Jung Yoon-suk was blacklisted and surveilled by the Park Geun-hye administration's National Intelligence Services for his incisive, socially engaged activities. Despite this authoritarian pressure, Jung Yoon-suk managed to finish his film Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno, which went on to premiere at the 2017 International Film Festival Rotterdam.

The ICFR continues to stand with Jung Yoon-suk and launches an urgent petition campaign in his support leading up to the December 24 appeal trial. We encourage the global film community to follow the example of the Korean cultural sector and express their support for Jung Yoon-suk through signing, sharing and promoting the petition campaign with urgency.

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

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The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) stands in full support of the Georgian (Kartveli) documentary filmmaker Giorgi Mrevlishvili, sentenced to seven days in detention for taking part in his country’s ongoing civic protests. The ICFR calls on the global film community to speak out in solidarity with Giorgi Mrevlishvili, and urges the authorities of Georgia to immediately and unconditionally release him and drop all administrative charges.

On October 30, 2025, Giorgi Mrevlishvili was detained by police while taking his child to a doctor. According to reports by the Documentary Association Georgia (DOCA), he was arrested under administrative charges for allegedly blocking Rustaveli Avenue, where daily demonstrations have been taking place since the government’s turn away from the country’s European course. Under a newly introduced law, such participation can lead to short-term imprisonment. Soon after his arrest, Giorgi was sentenced to seven days of detention.

As an answer to the government turning its back on EU accession and democratic values, demonstrators have been gathering in front of the Parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, blocking the road. The practice of freedom of assembly has become almost the only remaining form of civil expression, as government and public institutions, including the courts and public broadcaster, have been centralized and brought under direct control of the Georgian Dream party, led by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili.

However, the situation extends beyond Giorgi’s individual case. It signals a growing risk to filmmakers, journalists, and citizens whose work or civic engagement brings them into contact with these protests. Until recently, people identified as “road blockers” were fined approximately €1,800. With the aim of dispersing the protest movement, Parliament has made the law significantly stricter: as of October 19, those participating in demonstrations that block roads face up to 15 days in prison under administrative charges. Repeat offences are now treated as criminal cases, carrying sentences of up to one year in jail.

The film community in Georgia expects that more filmmakers may face similar persecution, whether because of their filmmaking practice or their civil activism, and recognizes the urgent need to prepare for this escalating pressure.

Giorgi Mrevlishvili is a Kartveli documentary filmmaker and the director of National Exams, 12 Lessons, Zurabi, and other works. He holds a Master of Fine Arts in Film from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and has been documenting the public protests unfolding in Georgia in recent months. Those who know Giorgi describe him as a peaceful, principled, and compassionate artist, devoted to truth-telling and civic engagement. His detention represents a serious threat to freedom of expression and to the safety of filmmakers documenting public life in Georgia.

The ICFR stands with Giorgi Mrevlishvili, and joins Documentary Association Georgia (DOCA), as well as the European Film Academy (EFA) and the International Documentary Association (IDA), in urgently appealing to the Georgian authorities to release him and uphold the rights of artists to observe, record, and participate in public life without fear or intimidation.

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

Jung Yoon-suk is a documentary filmmaker who has spent the past two decades documenting his country’s political turmoil and public grief. His films have revolved around such real-life topics as the the 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster and the deadly crowd crush in Itaewon on Hallowe’en, 2022. His 2014 film Non-Fiction Diary, on South Korea’s late-1980s transition from a military-led society to a democracy, won many plaudits around the world, including the Netpac Award at that year’s Berlinale. His 2017 film Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno screened at a.o. International Film Festival Rotterdam. From 2013-2017, Jung Yoon-suk was blacklisted and surveilled by the Park Geun-hye administration’s National Intelligence Services for his incisive, socially engaged activities.

On January 19 of this year, Jung Yoon-suk tried to document the riots unfolding outside Seoul’s Western District Court, in the wake of the country’s political upheaval and temporary martial law earlier that winter. Despite documenting alongside other journalists, Jung Yoon-suk was singled out and arrested with rioters, and his current court procedure, which is taking place without any interview conducted or any evidence provided, levels the accusation of “trespassing and burglary of a special building” against him. Some of Jung Yoon-suk’s footage was shown in broadcaster JTBC’s documentary 12 Days of Civil War earlier this year.

This August 1, Seoul’s Western District Court will finalize their sentencing of Jung Yoon-suk; despite his requests, he has been denied a jury trial as well as the possibility of appeal. Without any thorough investigation or interview, felony charges have been leveled at Jung Yoon-suk and treating him as a criminal.

The ICFR stands with Jung Yoon-suk and joins the Association of Korean Independent Film & Video (KIFV), the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) and other colleagues in South Korea in the urgent appeal to the Korean authorities to drop all the charges and release Jung Yoon-suk to immediate safety. We strongly urge our film colleagues around the world to make themselves heard in support of Jung Yoon-suk; as he himself said in his own closing statement earlier this month: “In a democratic society, artists serve as the watchdogs of history (...) For an artist, expression is not merely a matter of freedom; it is a matter of human rights, guaranteeing our dignity and our rights as human beings.” 

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

On March 30th, Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha 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, although their prison sentences are suspended for five years as of the time of writing.

As Maryam and Behtash have communicated via their social media, the verdict includes the following:

• 14 months of discretionary imprisonment (suspended for 5 years) for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic through dissemination of false information intended to disturb public opinion", for Maryam & Behtash;
• 1 year of discretionary imprisonment (suspended for 5 years) for "participation in the production of obscene content", for Maryam and Behtash;
• Monetary fines amounting to 800 million IRR (approx. 17,000 EUR), as well as confiscation of film equipment, for "screening and distributing the film without an official exhibition license"
• Monetary fines for three other members of cast/crew.

The Directors Guild of Iran has condemned the verdict, stating, “The conviction of a film made with official permission from the Cinema Organization and internationally acclaimed does not help solve cinema’s problems, but signals concerning treatment of independent works.”

Last month, the ICFR instigated a large petition campaign, together with the international co-producers and distributors of My Favourite Cake, in support of Maryam & Behtash, which led to more than 18,000 signatures from all over the world - including such film luminaries as Pedro Almodóvar, Juliette Binoche, Hiam Abbass, Ali Abbasi and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, as well as film instutions such as the film festivals of Rotterdam, Venice, Berlin, Sydney, IDFA and Movies That Matter. The global outcry was quickly noticed by trade publications (Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety) as well as The New York Times. Organizations such as the Swedish Film Directors' union and the Berlinale, have publicly stated their support for the filmmakers as well.

The filmmaking team believes that the public international and Iranian support for their case has positively impacted their court proceedings, and they encourage every one to keep standing with them as they currently consult with their lawyers to decide on the best path forward. The ICFR continues to monitor and be in close contact with the filmmakers as they seek the best options for them, with the current suspended prison sentences hanging in the balance.

This should not, however, stop the rest of us from continuing our vocal and visible support for their situation. The ICFR thanks each and every supporter for their commitment to the fates of our Iranian colleagues, and we continue to demand that the Iranian authorities drop all their charges against the filmmakers and release them back into society — and back to a life in which they can travel freely and make the films that are true to them, as every filmmaker should be able to do.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

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

Hamdan Ballal is a Palestinian filmmaker, photographer and human rights activist from Susiya, in the Masafer Yatta region in the West Bank, the region depicted in the film he co-directed between 2019 and 2023 with fellow Palestinian Basel Adra and Israeli co-directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, No Other Land.

The documentary, about the resilience of the Palestinian people of Masafer Yatta in the face of constant violence from Israeli settlers seeking to displace them, has been a major critical success and a topic of much debate around the world. Among many other accolades, the filmmaking team won the Academy Award for Best Documentary at the 2025 Oscars.

On Monday March 24, Hamdan Ballal was surrounded and attacked by fifteen Israeli settlers in his home town of Susiya in Masafer Yatta. With police and army forces idly standing by, the attackers assaulted both Ballal and his property, leaving him bleeding after severe blows to his head and stomach. As his co-director Yuval Abraham has reported via social media, Ballal was lifted from the ambulance by the Israeli army and forcefully taken into custody in an undisclosed location, where he was blindfolded, beaten and mistreated even further.

Over the course of March 25, the intervention of Ballal's lawyer has fortunately resulted in his release; Ballal is currently undergoing serious medical care for the physical traumas that the Israeli settlers and army have inflicted on him. It is as of yet unclear whether he will continue to be prosecuted by the Israeli state. This is not the first attack on the filmmaking team behind No Other Land: just last February, Palestinian co-director Basel Adra also found himself surrounded and assaulted by masked Israelis, and the violence against the filmmakers and the Masafer Yatta region has only increased since their success at the Academy Awards.

As Julie Trébault, Executive Director of the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), has stated, "This blatant effort to silence Palestinian voices, especially those who speak truth through art, cannot go unchecked. We are relieved to see Hamdan Ballal released from custody, but urgently call on the Israeli authorities to guarantee his protection and hold the perpetrators to account."

This violence all occurs within the bigger framework of Israel's continued war on Gaza, the West Bank and the Palestinians, which this week alone has resulted in the killing of even more (video)journalists, including 23-year-old Hossam Shabat, bringing the total number of killed journalists in Gaza to 225. It also led to the forceful arrest and detaining of Palestinian filmmaker Abdallah Motan this past winter.

Due in part to the absence of international attention for Abdallah Motan's situation, he has been incarcerated first in the notorious Gush Etzion incarceration facility near Hebron, where he was refused access to legal representation for months. He is now been moved to the Ofer Prison near Ramallah, where his lawyer can visit him but where Motan still has not been allowed a visit from his loved ones. Motan's current legal representation has recently confirmed that, despite it all, Motan is in relatively good health and spirits, even though his chances for release are highly uncertain at present; after his current six-month detention period, he and his lawyer will appeal to try and avoid an extension of his incarceration.

The ICFR joins the global film community, including our partners the European Film Academy, Artist at Risk Connection and the International Documentary Association, in our unwavering support for Hamdan Ballal as well as for Abdallah Motan. We call upon the Israeli authorities to drop all possible charges against Hamdan Ballal, and release Abdallah Motan and any other unjustly detained Palestinian immediately and unconditionally.

Additionally, we encourage you to take direct action by signing this petition started in Hamdan Ballal's support.

This is a developing story; updates will be distributed via our website and social media.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

The 57-year-old filmmaker, journalist and broadcaster has been a visible figure in Afghanistan's film and media industry for more than two decades, most recently as the managing director of the independent media organization Anar Media. Sayed Rahim Saidi has previously been a member of the state-run Afghan Film Organization (AFO), before it was taken over by the Taliban in 2021, whose de facto regime has drastically altered the course and purpose of the organization.

Saidi, who has never left his home country, has been known for his short and longer-form documentaries on social change, non-discrimination, and particularly the Taliban's treatment of Afghanistan's female population. On July 14, 2024, Saidi was arbitrarily arrested by the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), allegedly because Saidi had been working on a screenplay regarding an Afghan girl being denied access to education by the Taliban's de facto regime's current laws disproportionately targeting girls and women.

As Amnesty International reports, Saidi was kept in solitary confinement for three months after his initial arrest, and denied access to a lawyer when his case was finally presented to Kabul's First Court on December 18, 2024. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in the Pol-e-Charkhi Prison on account of "spreading propaganda against the Taliban". Throughout the process, and ever since his incarceration, he has been continuously denied access to healthcare and his medication, needed to treat his continuously worsening health issues (lumbar disc herniation and prostate issues).

The ICFR joins Amnesty International and the international human rights community in calling upon the Taliban's regime to provide Sayed Rahim Saidi with the healthcare he requires, as well as his immediate and unconditional release. We urge our colleagues across the global film industry to join us in supporting our colleague in Afghanistan, in particular by contributing to the letter-writing campaign set up by our colleagues at Amnesty. It is a straightforward and easy process that will hopefully have a profound and positive impact on the life, health and freedom of our colleague Sayed Rahim Saidi.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

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.

Ever since 2023, when the authorities first raided the offices of their film's editor, Moghadam and Sanaeeha have been under continuous scrutiny of the Iranian regime. Their film, My Favourite Cake, celebrates the romantic and intimate needs of an older-generation Iranian woman — and therefore defies many of the Islamic Republic's strict and strongly enforced ideas about a woman's role and visibility in society. Initially, the government's persecution efforts led to a travel ban for the directors, which meant they could not attend their film's world premiere at the 2024 Berlinale in person.

At the time, a statement on their behalf was read at the Berlinale. The statement included Moghadam & Sanaeeha's ethical and directorial vision, saying, "We have come to believe that it is no longer possible to tell the story of an Iranian woman while obeying strict laws such as the mandatory hijab. Women for whom the red lines prevent the depiction of their true lives, as full human beings. This time, we decided to cross all of the restrictive red lines, and accept the consequences of our choice to paint a real picture of Iranian women – images that have been banned in Iranian cinema ever since the Islamic Revolution." Read their full statement right here.

The film's continued success, including Berlinale's FIPRESCI and Ecumenical Jury prizes as well as festival and theatrical releases across the world, has not lessened the Iranian government's condemnation of Moghadam & Sanaeeha's actions. After a long string of interrogations at the Evin Security Prosecutor's Office, they are now expected in court on March 1 on allegations of "propaganda against the regime", "production, distribution and duplication of a film with obscene content", "offending public decency and morality" and "screening the film without obtaining a screening/distribution license". The court sessions will be conducted under the presidency of Judge Iman Afshari, who was also recently involved in sentencing Mohammed Rasoulof to eight years imprisonment.

The ICFR calls on the Iranian government to immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha, and restore their freedom to live, to move, and to make the films they need to make. We urge our colleagues across the globe — especially those currently attending the Berlinale and the European Film Market (EFM) — to amplify our call, to share this campaign in support our Iranian colleagues, and to sign and share this petition addressed to the Iranian authorities to drop all charges now.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

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 ties with Italy, where he spent eighteen months in Naples for a journalistic internship. He is scheduled to return to Italy in February this year, to participate in the 21st edition of the AI Ard Film Festival organized by the Sardinia-Palestine Friendship Association.

In addition to his film work, Abdallah Motan has been involved in organising local film workshops, such as one in the Palestinian village Al-Zubaidat, situated in the Jordan Valley in the eastern West Bank. The aim of this training was to enable inspiring local young men and women to deal with the simple tools of documentation and editing, with the aim of documenting and expressing their day-to-day experiences.

This last Monday January 13, Motan was arrested by the Israeli authorities as he tried to travel to Jordan and further onwards to Dubai. He has been given so-called administrative detention, which means a six-month imprisonment (at least) without trial or concrete charges. He is currently held in the Gush Etzion incarceration facility near Hebron, a detention center recently in the news for massive outbreaks of food poisoning and torture of minors.

Abdallah Motan is among at least 43 film workers and journalists currently imprisoned by the Israeli authorities, in an attempt to silence coverage of the war on Gaza, according to the CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists). The current surge of arrests in the West Bank is occurring during the recently implemented ceasefire, temporarily halting Israel's war on Gaza and facilitating the exchange of Palestinian and Israeli captives.

The ICFR joins Motan’s family in calling upon the Israeli authorities to release Abdallah Motan immediately and drop all the charges levelled against him. We encourage all our colleagues across the global film industry to join us in supporting our colleague Abdallah Motan, as well as our fellow film workers at severe risk in places of war and conflict around the world.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

The news is part of a broader amnesty on the part of Myanmar's current ruling military junta, to mark the 77th anniversary of Myanmar's independence from British colonial rule. On January 5th, the military junta released more than 6,000 inmates, only a small percentage of whom were political prisoners. In that category, Shin Daewe's sentence shortening is in line with the fates of 143 other prisoners who have now seen their life sentences reduced to fifteen years of incarceration.

Shin Daewe's sentence is the result of a closed trial of a military tribunal, all revolving around her possession of a filming drone common to documentary filmmaker. According to the military regime, this violated their counter-terrorism laws and was accordingly punished with a lifetime prison sentence on 10 January 2024. More context on Shin Daewe's filmmaking career and current situation can be read here.

Deeply worried about her health and well-being, the ICFR stands with Shin Daewe and call on the Myanmar authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Shin Daewe. We continue to encourage all film and cultural colleagues around the world to do the same, and invite them to share the link to her film NOW I AM 13 wherever possible. Contact us for more information.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

Chen Pinlin's documentary in question, Urumqi Middle Road (乌鲁木齐中路, also known internationally as Not the Foreign Force), revolves around the "White Paper Movement", a nationwide series of peaceful protests in 2022. These protests responded to all the rolling lockdowns under China's zero-COVID policy, as well as to the harsh environment of surveillance and censorship in China. Shared (often under his pseudonym "Plato") on YouTube and X, both of which are banned in China, the film's sensitive and outspoken content includes the brutal police crackdown on what ended up being the larges wave of citizen protest since the Tiananmen Square events back in 1989.

Reporters Without Borders' Cédric Alviani, the organization's Asia-Pacific Bureau director, comments on Chen Pinlin's sentence: "Documentary filmmaker Chen Pinlin was only serving the public interest by documenting historic protests against censorship and abuses by the Chinese regime. By branding him a troublemaker, Beijing demonstrates its utter contempt for the right to information."

As both Reporters Without Borders and the Human Rights Research Center point out, Chen Pinlin's arrest and sentence are clearly part of a bigger effort of the Chinese authorities to stifle the voices and stories of filmmakers, journalists and press freedom defenders across the board. As the ICFR reported last fall, Uyghur filmmaker Ikram Nurmehmet has also been sentenced by China to a long prison sentence, in his case for his film studies abroad in Turkey. They are among at least 124 film workers, journalists and press freedom defenders currently detained in the country.

We encourage all our colleagues across the global film industry to join us in supporting Chen Pinlin, and call upon the Chinese authorities to release the documentary filmmaker immediately and unconditionally.

In addition to distributing this call in your own networks, we also encourage you to join Amnesty International's writing campaign in Chen Pinlin's support; read more right here.

Lastly, Chen Pinlin's documentary Urumqi Middle Road can be watched on YouTube via this link. We encourage those in charge of film (festival) programming to include the film, if at all fitting and possible, in your public programs.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

A director, screenwriter and assistant director since 1999, Navid Mihandoust had to face unfounded charges in 2021 regarding a documentary about Iranian journalist and women's rights activisit Masih Alinejad's professional life — a documentary that remains unreleased to this day. Over the course of 2024, it became clear that Navid's current prison sentence stems from a false accusation that he was working on a film about Iran's anti-hijab movement among young women. Navid then refused to cooperate with Iran's intelligence services when asked to contact Alinejad under the pretense of making a new documentary about women's rights in Iran.

Speaking about Navid's character, his sister, Neda Mihandoust, has said, "He believes that as a filmmaker, he has a duty to society - to be the voice of the people and to highlight the problems within his society through his work. Despite having the chance to leave Iran, Navid chose to stay."

Navid's staunch refusal to support the state's plot against women's rights activism resulted in the execution of his prison sentence, in the notoriously harsh Evin Prison. The ICFR joins Navid's family in expressing deep concern for Navid's health and well-being in the current mentally torturous process of finalizing, or cancelling, his release on parole. We continue to stand with Navid, and call on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Navid Mihandoust.

We encourage our colleagues across the global film industry to amplify our call, and keep up visibility for Navid's situation, for example by screening Café, the film he made in 2023 while anxiously awaiting whether or not his prison sentence would be executed, at your festivals and institutions. Feel free to contact us directly for more information.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

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 strongly condemns the treatment and proceedings of the authorities, and calls on the Chinese government to release Ikram Nurmehmet immediately.

The core of the accusations against Ikram is the time he spent in Turkey, between 2010-2016, as a student of film at Marmara University in Istanbul. Returning to China upon graduation, he went on to become a prolific director of commercials and short films. His 2020 film, Elephant in the Car, about two Uyghur men and a Han Chinese woman sharing a cab and driving around Beijing at night, was nominated for the Golden Firebird Award at that year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival.

The Chinese authorities have now used Ikram’s study abroad time as the pretense for their persecution of the 33-year-old filmmaker, starting with having him surrender his passport in 2018. The government’s bewildering treatment of Ikram, leading up to his eventual arrest in 2023, has been documented by several international newspapers, including Der Spiegel.

Says Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch: “More than seven years after the Chinese government began its abusive ‘Strike Hard Campaign’* in Xinjiang, the authorities continue to prosecute young Uyghurs like Ikram Nurmehmet on politically motivated charges. Ikram Nurmehmet and the hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs who have been wrongfully imprisoned should be immediately freed.”

Ikram Nurmehmet is currently being held in Ürümqi No. 1 Detention Center, along with four other Uyghurs that he has been sentenced along with. The ICFR urgently calls on the international film industry to raise visibility for our Uyghur colleague, and help amplify our demands on the Chinese authorities to release and stop persecuting Ikram Nurmehmet, so that he may go back to sharing his and the Uyghur community’s stories through his films.

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

* _{The ‘Strike Hard Campaign’ particularly targeted Uyghurs and other Turkic citizens of Xinjiang by making “foreign ties” to a list of 26 “sensitive” countries, including Turkey and other Muslim majority nations, a punishable offense.} 

Çiğdem Mater is a Turkish film producer and journalist. Since 2010 she has produced multiple Turkish documentaries and feature films such as MAJORITY (2010) and SIVAS (2014, Best Youth Feature Film Award at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards). She also worked as local producer for international projects shot in Turkey such as Ai Weiwei’s HUMAN FLOW, Eric Baudlaire’s AKA and Muhammed Ben Attia’s WELDI. She is the founding co-ordinator for the Armenia Turkey Cinema Platform which supports co-production between Turkey and Armenia.

Çiğdem Mater is one of 13 high-profile academics and cultural workers who were initially arrested by the Turkish police in 2018. This was in a crackdown against people and organisations connected to the 2013 Gezi Park protests. While they were later released, the Turkish government alleges that those involved in the protests sought to overthrow the government of then Prime Minister, now President Erdogan. At the forefront of these accusations was prominent philanthropist Osman Kavala, who has been in prison without a conviction since 2017. Initially, the court in Istanbul cleared Kaval of espionage charges but found him guilty of attempting to overthrow the government amid mass protests in Gezi Park in 2013. Kavala denies allegations that he financed the anti-government protests.

Çiğdem Mater returned to Turkey from Germany on 15 February and attended the hearings of the Gezi Park Case. The court arrested her, saying ‘there is a suspicion of escape’. Mater’s lawyer Hürrem Sönmez said that his client was in Germany as part of a project but returned to the country to attend the hearings. On Monday, 25 April 2022, Çiğdem Mater was among seven defendants connected to Kavala who were sentenced to 18 years in prison for ‘aiding his crime’.

Mater said in her defense: “I participated in the Gezi Park protests as an activist to protect the park, and as a filmmaker. I haven’t made a film about this, as argued in the indictment, but I could have. This is something we must be discussing not in courtrooms, but in movie theatres.”

Such an extreme sentence does not only violate the rights of Ms. Mater and her colleagues, but furthermore, it is a flagrant threat to freedom of expression as it seeks to silence all filmmakers and artists through fear. ICFR calls on the Turkish authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Çiğdem Mater and her colleagues and we encourage all film and culture institutions around the world to do the same.

Such is the case for Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha, the filmmakers behind this year’s Berlinale-premiering film MY FAVOURITE CAKE, which they had been banned from attending by the Iranian authorities. Despite their passports being returned to them earlier this summer by a more favorable judge, they now found themselves stopped at the Tehran airport as co-director Moghadam was about to go attend their film’s Swedish premiere. Their passports have been confiscated anew, and they have been informed that they are expected in court soon, forbidden to leave the country. As Sanaeeha says to Screen International, “It’s a new case, and we don’t understand what is happening.”

At the same time, writer-director Navid Mihandoust is now in his second year of his three-year incarceration, a sentencing based on a women’s rights activism documentary that was never even released. His father’s pleas for the authorities’ forgiveness continue to be met with silence or refusal. The situation is similarly dire for Zahra Shafiee Dehaghani, who not only sees her lawyers’ appeals for sentence suspension or cancellation constantly denied, but also had to undergo brain surgery following a stroke brought upon by physical abuse in prison.

ICFR continues to monitor these cases closely — as well as other Iran-related situations — and urges our colleagues across the international film industry to continue to speak out in unwavering support of our friends in Iran. We commend the Swedish union for film directors, SFR, as well as Sweden's minister for culture Parisa Liljestrand, for already publicly supporting Moghadam & Sanaeeha.

Even in these tense times, your (continued) support will make an effective difference in Iran’s persecution of our colleagues — and, hopefully, have a positive impact on their freedom to travel, to live in (relative) safety, and to continue making films for the world to see. In the words of recently exiled filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof earlier this year: “Don’t be afraid of intimidation of censorship in Iran. They’re totally incapable of reigning, they have no other weapon other than terror. Don’t fear the authorities. Believe in your liberty.”

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

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, continues to monitor his situation closely, and will make sure to restart our campaign in his support should there be any developments for the worse.

UPDATE (SEPTEMBER 2024)

Last September 11, the international and internal pressure on the Serbian authorities has resulted in the annulment of the decision to extradite Andrei Gnyot to Belarus. However, the Serbian court has also ordered for the case to be retried, so Andrei is not yet free to return to his life. He has now appealed for his release with the support of an appeal letter signed by over 780 international and Serbian artist, creators and intellectuals, including Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos and French actress Juliette Binoche. ICFR continues to monitor the case closely and repeats its call for Serbia's immediate and unconditional release of Andrei Gnyot.

Arrested and currently imprisoned in Serbia, Belarusian filmmaker/activist Andrei Gnyot is facing the immediate danger of being extradited to Belarus, where he is facing imprisonment, torture and even the possibility of a death penalty. The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) urgently protests against his arrest and calls upon the Serbian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Andrei Gnyot.

Andrei Gnyot is known for making documentary footage during the Belarus 2020 protests and recording athletes' appeals for free and fair elections. He is being prosecuted by the Belarusian regime for these activities. Andrei was arrested in Serbia because Interpol initially accepted the request of the Belarusian regime to search for him. Despite Interpol eventually dropping the request, Serbia did not release Andrei, and with their cooperation, Andrei could be extradited any moment.

Joining our colleagues at the European Film Academy (EFA), we stand in solidarity with the Belarusian Independent Film Academy (BIFA) and our Belarusian colleagues, several of whom continue to live under the pressure of the Belarusian regime’s constant persecution of its more outspoken and critical citizens. 

Per the BIFA: “We urge international organizations, and human rights groups to appeal to the Serbian authorities to prevent the extradition of Andrei Gnyot to Belarus and to secure his immediate release. Time is of the essence; act now to save Andrei Gnyot.”

As Amnesty International writes, “Under international law which prohibits torture and inhuman treatment, Serbia must provide protection to Andrei Gnyot. We call on the Serbian government to ensure his safety and freedom.”

The ICFR is deeply worried about Andrei’s well-being and safety, and we urge all our allies, supporters and colleagues to support and amplify the call on the Serbian authorities for Andrei Gnyot’s immediate and unconditional release.

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk

This is a grave escalation in the Iranian authorities’ long-standing persecution of the filmmaker, who has now managed to flee his country despite his passport having been confiscated. “With a heavy heart, I chose exile,” Rasoulof writes in a statement he just shared with the world, which can be found in full here. ICFR is relieved to hear that Rasoulof has made it to safety, and is deeply concerned that a filmmaker with such exceptional standing is persecuted out of his home and forced into exile.

Rasoulof’s history with the Iranian authorities has been troublesome since 2010: a six-year prison sentence (later reduced to one year) for “filming without the correct permit” in 2010; a travel ban after winning a top prize at Cannes for A MAN OF INTEGRITY in 2017; and another one-year prison sentence, travel ban and filmmaking ban after winning Berlin’s Golden Bear in 2020 for THERE IS NO EVIL, which casts a critical eye on death penalty in Iran and life under authoritarian rule.

Following his release in 2021, Rasoulof was re-arrested in 2022 after he posted an appeal urging Iranian security forces to stop using weapons during protests. As a result, he has now been sentenced to eight years in prison, punishment by whipping and confiscation of his property. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court considers Rasoulof’s public statements and films “examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country’s security”.

Rasoulof’s lawyer Babak Paknia confirmed the latest accusation is that he made his latest film without obtaining a licence from the related authorities, that actresses were filmed without wearing the hijab, and that “all key members of the film are banned from leaving the country and have been investigated by the security forces of the Ministry of Intelligence.” In his statement, Rasoulof expresses his concern for his team members still in Iran, writing: “They have been put through lengthy interrogations. The families of some of them were summoned and threatened. Due to their appearance in this movie, court cases were filed against them, and they were banned from leaving the country (...) They (the authorities, red.) were trying to convince the film crew that they were not aware of the film’s story and that they had been manipulated into participating in the project.”

Despite the current adversities, Rasoulof also expresses his gratitude for the critical film they have managed to make together: “I have no doubt that restricting and suppressing freedom of expression cannot be justified even if it becomes a spur for creativity, but when there is no way, a way must be made.”

ICFR protests vehemently against this unjust sentence and stands in solidarity with Rasoulof and all filmmakers who resist censorship. As Rasoulof writes in his statement, “The world’s cinema community must ensure effective support for the makers of such films. Freedom of speech should be defended, loudly and clearly.”

ICFR calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately drop all charges against Mohammad Rasoulof, and we encourage all film and culture institutions around the world to do the same. 
 

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk
 

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 friends were detained without a warrant on 1 February 2024 and have since been kept at a municipal police station.

Having started his career as a script researcher and supervisor, Jade Castro made his directorial breakthrough with the 2007 romantic drama ENDO. The film won the jury prize at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. He also directed the romantic comedy MY BIG LOVE (2008), the gay-themed zombie comedy REMINGTON AND THE CURSE OF THE ZOMBADINGS (2011), as well as the comedies MY KONTRABIDA GIRL (2012) and MY LADY BOSS (2013), the drama series BEKI BOXER (2014), and the musical romantic drama LSS (LAST SONG SYNDROME, 2019).

On 31 January, Jade Castro and his friends Noel Mariano, Ernesto Orcine and Dominic Ramos attended the Cocolunay festival in Mulanay in the province of Quezon, where they mingled with the locals and enjoyed the festivities. There is CCTV footage of this and numerous witnesses have confirmed it.

At around the same time some twenty-two kilometres or more than half an hour away, in a different town, four masked individuals were allegedly seen as they stopped a jeep, at gunpoint forcing driver and passengers to leave the vehicle and then setting the jeep on fire.

On the next day, 1 February, Jade Castro and his friends were questioned by the police in connection with the jeep burning incident. No evidence was found on them, no motive to connect them to the jeep burning.

Still, they have since then been detained at Catanauan municipal police station. On top of that, the police have meanwhile issued a statement which was circulated widely by the media, in which Jade Castro and his friends have supposedly been identified as the individuals setting the jeep on fire.

The families of Jade, Noel, Ernesto, and Dominic have released a statement demanding a transparent and fair investigation and calling onto the media to be more critical and fair. Similar statements have been released by the Directors Guild of the Philippines, the Philippine Center of International PEN and the non-profit organization DAKILA.

Deeply worried about his well-being, the ICFR supports these statements and calls on the Philippine authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Jade Castro and his companions. We encourage all film and culture institutions around the world to do the same, and invite them to share the link to the fundraising call which is endorsed by his family.

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk
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