May 13, 2024 Breaking news: Mohammad Rasoulof has fled Iran on foot through its mountainous border region. From an as-yet undisclosed location in Europe, he issued a statement on the eve of the start of Cannes 2024 festival, excerpted below.

I had to choose between prison and leaving Iran. With a heavy heart, I chose exile. The Islamic Republic confiscated my passport in September 2017. Therefore, I had to leave Iran secretly…
Right now as I'm writing this, the young rapper, Toomaj Salehi is held in prison and has been sentenced to death. The scope and intensity of repression has reached a point of brutality where people expect news of another heinous government crime every day...
Many of the actors and agents of the film are still in Iran and the intelligence system is pressuring them. They have been put through lengthy interrogations. The families of some of them were summoned and threatened. Due to their appearance in this movie, court cases were filed against them, and they were banned from leaving the country. They raided the office of the cinematographer, and all his work equipment was taken away. They also prevented the film's sound engineer from traveling to Canada. During the interrogations of the film crew, the intelligence forces asked them to pressure me to withdraw the film from the Cannes Festival...
Many people helped to make this film. My thoughts are with all of them, and I fear for their safety and well-being.

Full statement on Variety.

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May 11, 2024: Just before the opening of Mohammad Rasoulof's latest film at the Cannes Film Festival, an appeals court in Iran confirmed his prior sentence to 8 years in prison, flogging, and the confiscation of his property. This was he refused to give in to heavy pressure from Iranian authorities to withdraw the film, Seed of the Sacred Fig, set to compete for the Palme d'Or, a family drama set in the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in 2022.

Rasoulof's lawyer, Babak Paknia, announced on X, “The main reason for issuing this sentence is for signing statements and making films and documentaries. In the court’s opinion, these actions were examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country’s security.”

Deadline.com published a statement from Tribeca Festival co-founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal:

“Mohammad Rasoulof’s courageous works have consistently sought to shine a light on societal issues, offering invaluable insights through a cinematic lens and underscores his unwavering commitment to the pursuit of truth and the promotion of human rights through artistic expression... Art is not a crime; it’s dialogue with humanity. Today, we stand in solidarity with Mohammad Rasoulof, echoing his courage and commitment to these truths.”

The Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association wrote in Instagram:

"Sentencing Mohammad Rasoulof to imprisonment, whipping and the confiscation of his property reveals the Islamic judicial system in Iran as a tool for seeking revenge on political dissidents. These unjust actions only serve as a reminder that authoritarianism often masks itself as a power but is ultimately driven by fear.

"The Islamic regime in Iran, facing failures both domestically and internationally, has attempted to assert its strength through brutal tactics such as the murder and sexual assault of protesting youth, detention of women who defy the mandatory Hijab law, and imposing economic hardships on the Iranians.

"Evidently, a regime that is structured based on the suffering of the people is destined to crumble soon.

IIFMA, along with freedom lovers worldwide, denounces the absurd sentencing of Mohammad Rasoulof and stand in solidarity with him and all artists who resist censorship, bravely challenging the regime’s legitimacy.”