MONTREAL — An Iranian-Canadian director said he could not attend a film festival in London on Friday after Iranian authorities blocked his departure.
Director Mani Haghighi said in an Instagram video that he was unable to attend a screening of his film at the London Film Festival because Iranian authorities prevented him from boarding his flight to Tehran and subsequently confiscated his passport.
The British Film Institute said in a statement that Haghighi will be attending the festival with his film Subtraction, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.
While promoting the film, Haghighi told Variety that his Iranian-Canadian identity is important to him. Haghighi attended school in Ontario and Quebec and told Entertainment magazine he still has close friends in Canada.
In his video message, Haghighi said he had not received a reasonable explanation for the seizure from authorities.
Two weeks earlier, Haghighi released a video criticizing Iran’s mandatory hijab law and crackdown on young protesters.
The London Film Festival said it supports Haghighi and all filmmakers in their freedom to screen their films around the world.
Haghighi could not be reached for comment, and Global Affairs Canada did not immediately respond to questions about the director’s whereabouts or the status of his Canadian documentation.
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