The Islamic Republic has lifted the travel ban on one of the two film directors whose motion pictures are being shown at the Cannes Film Festival this week.
The ban on Mohammad Rasoulof was lifted Monday, two days after his film was shown at Cannes, his lawyer, Iman Mirza-zadeh, told reporters.
The travel ban on the other director, Jafar Panahi, remains in place.
Mirza-zadeh said it wasn’t yet known if Rasoulof would travel to Cannes. But in Cannes, Agence France Presse quoted an unnamed spokesman for Rasoulof as saying he would arrive late Tuesday.
Cannes Festival officials said Rasoulof’s film would be shown again if he arrives before the festival ends later this week.
Mirza-zadeh said a letter from the Tehran Revolutionary Court announced the lifting of the ban.
Last December, the two film directors were each sentenced to six years in prison and banned from making films for 20 years. They are both free now as they await a decision on their appeals.
Rasoulof’s film, “Be Omid-e Didar” (Goodbye) tells the story of a young Tehran lawyer trying to get a visa to leave Iran. It was shown Saturday in the “Un Certain Regard” competition of the festival.
Iranian officials recently complained that the Cannes festival was being politicized by screening films made by directors who backed the Green opposition movement.
No explanation was given for why the travel ban was lifted for Rasoulof. Some thought the timing suggested the regime was trying to show the arts community that the Islamic Republic was not as harsh as often charged, while at the same time not going too far by freeing the more famous Panahi or allowing Rasoulof to appear when his film was shown in the competition.
Rasoulof has won international attention chiefly because he was punished along with Panahi, who is widely known in the arts world. Panahi’s film, “In Film Nist” (This Is Not a Film), is due to be screened in the main competition May 20.
