Oscar-nominated Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been officially removed from the guest list of the upcoming 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The forced cancellation follows a renewed wave of judicial enforcement by the Iranian government targeting artists and dissidents who publicly supported the nationwide “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.
The festival runs from July 3 to July 11, and Panahi was scheduled to attend the world premiere of the new feature Hijamat. He produced and edited the film, which is directed by Nader Saeivar and competing in the Crystal Globe Competition, but Iranian authorities intervened before his travel could take place.
The block on his attendance is the direct result of a Tehran Revolutionary Court ruling upheld on June 7. Prosecutors explicitly cited Panahi’s production of unauthorized films and his vocal endorsement of political prisoners as propaganda against the Islamic Republic. The court sentenced him to one year in prison and issued a strict two-year travel ban, restricting him from joining any political or social organizations.
Panahi previously faced a two-decade travel ban issued in 2010. After that restriction was unexpectedly lifted in early 2023, he traveled internationally to campaign for his Palme d’Or-winning film It Was Just an Accident. The director voluntarily re-entered Iran on March 30, directly triggering the activation of this newly enforced restriction.
This situation directly mirrors a previous standoff for Panahi at the exact same Czech festival. During his prior travel restriction in 2013, he was physically blocked from attending Karlovy Vary to promote his film Closed Curtain. To circumvent the blockade, his daughter represented him on the ground while Panahi appeared at the festival via a live Skype video feed.