Focus on Mohammad Rasoulof

In May 2024, Mohammad Rasoulof was sentenced to an eight-year prison term and a flogging, and had his property confiscated, for making a film that threatened national security. It would not be the first time the director had fallen foul of Iranian officials for filmmaking: he had been imprisoned on three separate occasions. In a holding pattern before his prison term was to begin, Rasoulof was presented with a two-hour window to flee Iran, so, like a plot from a political thriller, he removed his tracking device and crossed the border on foot.

After a two-decade career making films in Iran that his fellow citizens are unlikely to see through official channels, Mohammad Rasoulof is now a filmmaker in exile.

This spring, follow Mohammad Rasoulof's career as his quiet resistance builds to an outspoken voice of protest. See works rarely screened to Australian audiences and recognise the power of cinema to give voice to truth, no matter the consequences.