[Reader-list] TAHMINEH MILANI UPDATE

Harsh Kapoor aiindex at mnet.fr
Thu Nov 15 18:38:10 IST 2001


FACETS MULTIMEDIA

TAHMINEH MILANI UPDATE

Ms. Milani's Status

Over Fifteen Hundred Signatures to Declaration of Solidarity

Solidarity Expressed by Women Filmmakers
Institutions Endorse Declaration

Continued High-Profile Press Coverage

What You Can Do


For Immediate Release November 6, 2001

For further information, please contact Ray Privett at 1 800 331 6197 
or ray at facets.org.


As part of its continuing campaign in defense of Ms. Tahmineh Milani, 
the Iranian filmmaker detained in Iran in late August and released on 
bail soon thereafter, Facets Multimedia issues the following 
statement concerning Ms. Milani's status, additional signatures to 
the statement of solidarity with Ms. Milani, continued press coverage 
of the situation, and about what other parties can do.


Ms. Milani's Status

In the words of Mohammad Nikbin, Tahmineh Milani's husband, producer, 
and translator, "our case is in the same situation as before." This 
means that the charges of supporting those waging war against god and 
misusing the arts in support of counterrevolutionary and armed 
opposition groups have not been dropped. Those crimes are potentially 
punishable by execution under Islamic law in Iran.

In late August, Tahmineh Milani was arrested and detained for several 
days, during which time she was interrogated and items were 
confiscated from her home. After being held for several days, she was 
released on bail following the intervention of Mohammad Khatami, 
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Facets Multimedia has repeatedly attempted to clarify the situation, 
and to follow the best course of action. A statement of solidarity by 
filmmakers was written and started by Los Angeles-based writer and 
translator Dorna Khazeni at the suggestion of French filmmaker 
Catherine Breillat. Prior to expanding the declaration and actively 
soliciting the participation of other filmmakers, Facets consulted 
with Mr. Nikbin and others. Mr. Nikbin has expressed repeated thanks 
to all those who have signed the declaration, saying "all the 
pressure and publicity will help to get the case closed."

Ms. Milani's ability to travel abroad has not been hampered. She and 
Mr. Nikbin traveled recently to Cairo, Egypt, for a film festival, 
and will travel to Boston, in the United States, on November 9, 2001. 
They will then travel to California on November 15, and be back on 
the U.S. East Coast by the end of November. At some point they may 
stopover in Chicago. Thereafter they will return to Iran.

The charges against Tahmineh Milani remain pending. She has not been 
cleared and the charges have not been dropped. Facets' ultimate goal 
in this campaign is for those charges to be dropped.


Over Fifteen Hundred Signatures to Declaration of Solidarity

Since releasing an initial declaration of solidarity with Ms. 
Tahmineh Milani on October 26, 2001, a declaration signed by 108 
filmmakers, the declaration has grown to bear now the signatures of 
over 1500 people. Several hundred of these are filmmakers; many 
others are film world professionals; many others have no direct 
involvement with the film world. Facets has not tracked the 
nationalities of all of the signatories, however it is clear that 
they come from every continent on Earth, and dozens if not hundreds 
of countries.

Among the signatories are numerous women filmmakers, including 
Allison Anders, Catherine Breillat, Michelle Citron, Sofia Coppola, 
Faye Dunaway, Su Friedrich, Marina Goldovskaya, Mary Harron, 
Agnieszka Holland, Sarah Jacobson, Lucrecia Martel, Alice Nellis, 
Yvonne Rainer, Molly Ringwald, Greta Schiller, Cauleen Smith, Susan 
Sontag, Amy Taubin, and many others.

The petition has also received institutional endorsements from over 
seventy-five institutions, including the Association of Independent 
Video and Filmmakers, the Black Filmmaker Foundation, the Canadian 
Film Institute, the Directors' Guild of Canada, Zeitgeist Films, film 
festivals in Greece, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and the United States, 
and many others.

Facets plans to send an updated copy of the petition with all its 
current signatories to representatives within Iran shortly.


Continued High-Profile Press Coverage

Coverage of the situation has appeared in numerous press outlets. 
These include the newspapers The Guardian and Hayate-No; the 
entertainment trade paper Variety; the internet film magazines 
filmfestivals.com, indieWIRE, and Film Threat; and radio stations and 
programs including Norwegian Broadcasting, Democracy Now! (U.S.), and 
Cinema Scene (Melbourne, Australia). Articles are in development at 
numerous other newspapers and magazines, including many extremely 
high-profile papers.


What You Can Do

Other filmmakers, organizations, and individuals who would like to 
express their solidarity with Ms. Milani are invited to send faxes to 
His Excellency Mr. Mohammad Khatami, President of the Islamic 
Republic of Iran, at 98 21 649 5880; His Excellency Mr. Mahmoud 
Hashemi Shahrudi, Minister of Justice, at 98 21 646 5242; His 
Excellency Mr. Masjed Jamee, Minister of Culture and Islamic 
Guidance, at 98 21 391 3535; Mr. Mohebbi, President of the Farabi 
Cinema Foundation, at 98 21 670 8155; and Ray Privett of Facets 
Multimedia at 1 773 929 5437. They are also invited to sign the 
petition online at www.facets.org/petition.html, a website with links 
that will be updated as new information related to Ms. Tahmineh 
Milani's case becomes available.



Facets Multimedia
1517 West Fullerton Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60614 USA
1 800 331 6197
www.facets.org


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