Iranian Filmmaker Navid Mihandoost Starts Prison Sentence

Acclaimed Iranian film director and writer Navid Mihandoost has started a three-year prison sentence in Tehran’s Evin prison, according to the activist HRANA news agency. 

HRANA says Mihandoost appeared before Branch 1 of the 33rd District Prosecutor's Office in the capital on August 20 and was subsequently moved to Ward 4 of Evin prison. 

The judiciary initially sentenced the filmmaker in December 2020 to three years and six months in prison for allegedly participating in "propaganda activity against the Islamic Republic" and engaging in actions that harmed national security. 

A court of appeals confirmed the verdict in February 2021 but reduced Mihandoost’s prison term to three years. 

Neda Mihandoost, his sister, has told IranWire that the case stemmed from a documentary Mihandoost made about the life of US-based activist Masih Alinejad. 

"My brother made this documentary in 2009, when Alinejad was legally traveling in Iran and was actively engaged as a journalist. Of course this film has never been publicly shown anywhere in the world," she said. 

Born in 1973, Navid Mihandoost directed TV series including “Footprint of Breeze,” “Glass Wall” and “Maybe It Will Happen to You,” as well as the movie “Whatever God Wants.”