December 22, 2010
Los Angeles, CA – Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford made the following statement today regarding the arrest and sentencing of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi.
"The Directors Guild of America condemns the baseless arrest and sentencing of filmmaker Jafar Panahi by the Iranian government.
"We are outraged by this attempt to lock away and silence Mr. Panahi, a world-renowned filmmaker, along with his fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof who was similarly sentenced. We understand full well how crucial creative freedom is to liberty, art, culture and human rights, and we oppose any attempt to suppress the rights of artists to engage in creative expression.
"We stand together with the world’s film community to protest this illegal action. We urge the Iranian government to rescind its misguided decision and free Mr. Panahi and Mr. Rasoulof."