Iranian actress in Oscar-nominated film hit with charges, travel ban - Deadline

An Iranian actress featured in a film recently nominated for an Academy Award has been barred from leaving Iran and faces propaganda and immorality charges, according to US entertainment news site Deadline.

Soheila Golestani faces charges of propaganda against the Iranian government and promoting immorality due to her role in the film The Seed of the Sacred Fig, directed by dissident Iranian film maker Mohammad Rasoulof.

The official ban came as she was due to attend the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and judge the competition alongside other luminaries of the international film industry.

Nominated as Germany's entry for the best international feature Oscar, The Seed of the Sacred Fig chronicles the protest movement in Iran sparked by the 2022 death in custody of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, after her arrest for not wearing a hijab.

Rasoulof’s lawyer, Babak Paknia, disclosed in April that several crew members associated with the film had been summoned by authorities, with some facing interrogation and others barred from international travel.

Deadline said in its report that Rasoulof, who fled Iran last year, will attend the festival and speak at a panel titled “Cinema and the Rise of Authoritarianism” on February 3.