Rafi Pitts, an Iranian-born but Paris-based filmmaker, called for the industry to stop work for two hours at 3 p.m. local time around the world on February 11, the anniversary of the 1979 revolution.
“We suggest to all filmmakers, members of the film industry, regardless of your country or borders, religion or politics, to support our fellow filmmakers, by not working for two hours,” Pitts said in a statement issued last Wednesday.
He called it a gesture of “solidarity” with Panahi and his collaborator, Mohammad Rasoulof. Both men have been sentenced to six years in prison.
In a statement released in Italy in November, Panahi, 50, said he was accused of making a film without permission and inciting opposition protests after the disputed 2009 election.
Panahi won the Camera d’Or prize in Cannes for 1995’s “The White Balloon” and five years later took the Golden Lion for Best Film at Venice with “The Circle.”
In a letter addressed to President Ahmadi-nejad and accompanying the statement, Pitts said Panahi and Rasoulof “are both [being] punished for caring about their fellow man, punished for wanting to understand the events of June 2009.”
Pitts, 43, has a British father and an Iranian mother. Born in Mashhad, Pitts spent his childhood in Tehran. He went to England in 1981 at the age of 14 during the Iran-Iraq war. He graduated in 1991 from Harrow College—Polytechnic of Central London with a degree in film and photography. In the 90’s, Pitts moved to Paris and works on films there now.
