Oscar-Nominated Filmmaker Jafar Panahi Speaks Out on Jailing of Screenwriter Mehdi Mahmoudian in Iran

Authorities in Iran have arrested the Oscar-nominated screenwriter Mehdi Mahmoudian in Tehran. Mahmoudian co-wrote the film It Was Just an Accident with dissident director Jafar Panahi, and their film is nominated for Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature at this year's Academy Awards. Mahmoudian was arrested after signing a public statement condemning Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as well as the brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, calling it an organized state crime against humanity." Panahi, who also signed the statement alongside 15 others, recently spoke with Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Panahi described meeting Mehdi when they were both imprisoned, which led to their creative partnership. Because he had spent nine years of his life in prison, I knew that he had a deep understanding of different people in the society, and for that reason, I invited him to this film to help with writing the dialogues, because he knew the different characters of this film very well," Panahi said.