A film by dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has won the Golden Bear, the Berlin Film Festival’s top prize. Jafar Panahi won the award for his Tehran road movie ‘Taxi’ in what critics described as a victory for freedom of speech and the art of cinematic storytelling. Jafar Panahi was …
Read More »Iran: Prominent musician banned from traveling abroad
The Iranian musician and composer Majid Derakhshani says authorities are preventing him from traveling abroad. Majid Derakhshani told the Iranian daily Etemad on 5 January 2015 that security officials confiscated his passport at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport over the weekend while he was on his way to Dubai. Derakhshani quoted …
Read More »Campaigns and support to musicians
Freemuse initiates and organises several campaigns and advocacy initiatives for musicians and composers at risk. Freemuse has also provided substantial support to persecuted and prosecuted artists. Current Freemuse campaigns Currently Freemuse (openly) campaigns for the release of the following artists. Other cases are under investigation or involve non-public actions. Mehdi …
Read More »Iran: Ministry announces permanent ban on hip-hop concerts
According to MTV, citing The Jerusalem Post, a spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance said hip-hop concerts are now against the law in the country unless approved by the ministry through a lengthy process. This ban will continue indefinitely. “This music encourages wild behavior that could have …
Read More »Iran: Rapper arrested in Mashhad
Underground rap singer Hossein Eblis was arrested in Mashhad on 15 December 2014. Security forces confiscated several of his musical instruments and sound equipment, reported IranWire, quoting Khorasan Newspaper. According to a police report, Hossein Eblis, 27, frequently mocked the language of authorities in his songs, many of which contain …
Read More »Iran: 20-year-old musician’s reality check: oppression persists
“Rights for musicians are extremely weak in Iran”, wrote Tooka Zokaie, a 20-year-old Iranian-American piano teacher and speech coach who travelled to Iran and unintentionally broke the law: “When I went to Iran this summer, almost everything I participated in related to music was illegal. I played piano to male …
Read More »PEN International: Day of the Imprisoned Writer
15 November 2014 marks the 33rd anniversary of the Day of the Imprisoned Writer. PEN International launched the first Day of the Imprisoned Writer in 1981, with the aim of focusing much-needed global attention on imprisoned, murdered or otherwise harassed writers. Since then, the Day of the Imprisoned Writer has …
Read More »Iran: Security forces shut down poet’s commemoration
The fourteenth commemoration ceremony for the passing of Iranian poet Ahmad Shamloo was interrupted by Islamic Republic security forces. HRANA reports that the ceremony was organised by Iran’s Writers’ Association and was held on Thursday 25 July 2014. Source: www.payvand.com
Read More »Amnesty International on silencing of filmmakers: ‘Manuscripts Don’t Burn’
Steven W. Hawkins, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, and writer and film director Gregory Nava have written an article in Huffington Post’s The Blog about the silencing of filmmakers and other artists in countries such as China, Iran and Russia. “Freedom of expression is both an essential human …
Read More »Iran: Three arrested for music video of men and women singing and dancing
Iranian police have arrested three people who appeared in an online video of young men and women singing and dancing in support of the country’s World Cup football team, the official IRNA news agency reported on 23 June 2014. The music video was produced by the London-based Ajam Band and …
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