Weekly Review of Censorship: Filmmaker Sentenced to Prison for a Film Never Screened

The past week saw dozens of fresh examples of censorship in Iran – from a book being blocked for publication by the Ministry of Guidance to a journalist being forced to step away from the keyboard and take up a decorator’s paintbrush to make a living. But worst of all was the sentencing to three years and six months in prison of a film and TV producer.

Navid Mihandoust, a widely respected screenwriter and director in Iran, was last week charged with "acting against national security" and "propaganda against the regime" by working with and being a member of anti-regime groups. He was sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment by Branch 28 of the court.

The accusation of "acting against national security" and of collaborating with anti-regime groups is based on a documentary film Mihandoust made in 2009, in Iran, along with the journalist Masih Alinejad.

Alinejad is known in Iran as a women’s rights activist after she started the “My Stealthy Freedom” social media campaign.

The document was never released; but now, 11 years later, the director of the film has been sentenced to prison.

A number of Mihandoust’s colleagues on social media condemned the ruling. Anahita Eghbalnejad, an actress and theater director, wrote on her Instagram page: "Navid is patriot and one of the most ruthless and noble directors of our time ... he is always either studying or writing something, he is not interested in wasting time and having fun on stage ... He is a good person. After making a documentary, he was sent to prison. He is currently on bail, and after his trial he was sentenced to three years and six months in prison and slandered in ways that disregarded his status as an artist. It doesn't matter if I like his film or its subject matter, or not; it is the punishment that, I think, is very harsh for such a person.”

Masih Alinejad’s book Taj-e Khar (Crown of Thorns), published in 2005 by Resanesh publishing house in Iran, included Alinejad’s memoirs and her work as a journalist.

After the book’s publication, Alinejad gave a series of interview to local media outlets, including with the journalist Shahla Sherkat, editor of Women's magazine, who titled the interview The Ugly Duckling. The article attracted considerable attention and debate – and Alinejad meanwhile went to London to continue her education.

But during a return to Iran, in 2009, in Navid Mihandoust made a film about Alinejad based on Taj-e Khar and with the same title. The film was completed but never released.

Alinejad’s journalism work – uncovering government mismanagement and corruption – also meant that the authorities eventually threatened her with arrest. She left Iran later in 2009 and has since settled in the United States.

Mihandoust was arrested, years later, on December 4, 2019, by Ministry of Intelligence agents and transferred to ward 209 of Evin Prison under the supervision of the Ministry of Intelligence. He was interrogated and released on bail on February 3, 2020. But almost a year after his temporary release, on December 28, 2020, Mihandoust’s lawyers were notified that a prison sentence had been issued against their client.

Mihandoust’s lawyer, Mohammad Hadi Erfanian Kaseb, told the Emtedad website on January 14: "The main reason for my client's conviction, according to the court, goes back to 2009, when Masih Alinejad officially and legally entered the country, before June, and because he had a previous acquaintance with my client, they made a documentary together."

Regarding the illegality of his client's prison sentence, the lawyer said that the film was made more than 10 years ago when Alinejad was legally present inside the country.

Kaseb added that Mihandoust now has no "connection" with Ms. Alinejad.

Alinejad Twitter protested Mihandoust’s sentence on Twitter, adding that she had the copyright of the film for which he had been sentenced to prison and that she could broadcast it at any time: "You sentenced my brother to eight years in prison, you interrogated my mother,” Alinejad wrote, referring to her own relatives, “and you have threatened to kill me many times. Now you are sentencing to prison the director of a film made 11 years and which was never released. What are you afraid of? I have the copyright of the film. I will not be silenced by you."

Neda Mihandoust, the director's sister, in an interview with Voice of America on January 14, 2021, said that the charge of acting against national security was mentioned in the case of her brother because of his friendship with Masih Alinejad and her brother Alireza. "My brother's relationship with Masih and Alireza Alinejad is a normal family relationship and friendship, and it cannot be considered an example of membership in an opposition group,” Neda Mihandoust said. “My brother's work is cultural and artistic. He is a filmmaker and I do not think he did anything illegal."

Neda Mihandoust added that the charges against her brother for propaganda against the regime, for which he was sentenced to six months in prison, was related to the fact that he wrote slogans on a series of white ribbons in the Tehran Book Garden on November 19, 2019, after which the guards detained him for several hours. Navid Mihandoust had written on the white ribbons that "The Islamic Republic is not our choice."

Mihandoust was temporarily released on February 2020; since then, according to his sister, he has not been able to work. He was not officially banned from working but film and television producers have refused to cooperate with him because of his case.

Navid Mihandoust was the director of TV series such as "Maybe It Happens to You," "Glass Walls," and the movie "Whatever God Wants.”

The series "Maybe It Happens to You,” which was broadcast on the Tehran network from 2009 to 2014, was made by a number of directors, including Navid Mihandoust. Each episode was based on true stories about various social issues.

In other, bitter news, Masoud Kazemi, a professional journalist who has been unable to return to work after a period in jail, was forced to turn to painting buildings for a living. Today instead of reporting on the news he works with his father as a decorator.

Kazemi had been sentenced by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, headed by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh, to two years in prison and a two-year ban on media activities, on three charges; "spreading lies,” "insulting the leadership" and "insulting officials.” He was sent on leave on February 26, 2020, with the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iranian prisons, and on April 4, 2020, he received his final release sentence.

In other news last week, the Ministry of Guidance cancelled the publication of the book The Shah Did Not Kill, by at the University of Tehran and Azad University political scientist and writer Sadegh Zibakalam, a writer and political analyst. Zibakalam announced this on his Telegram channel on January 14 though he was not given a reason for the block. His previous book, Reza Shah, suffered the same fate.

Zibakalam said that his book only tried to dispassionately analyse Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s 37-reign as well as his policies and beliefs.

The author has himself been a prisoner of both the Pahlavi government and Islamic Republic – and now he is facing two fresh sentences. In March 2018, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a two-year ban on political and social activities by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, on charges of "propaganda against the regime" and "spreading lies."

He was also sentenced to a year in prison, in August 2019, on charges of "spreading lies with the intention of disturbing the public mind." In an interview with Borna News Agency, Zibakalam said he had accused the judiciary of writing a post on his Instagram about comparing the employment budget of 300,000 clerics with the budgets of the provinces of Kurdistan, Sistan and Baluchestan and the country's environment.

Zibakalam also lost his role at Azad University in March 2017 and, later, under pressure, he was forced to retired from the University of Tehran.