Iran jails film award-winning director for 'security' offenses, lawyer says

Tehran, Iran — An Iranian court has sentenced prominent filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof to jail time for "collusion against national security," his lawyer Babak Paknia said Wednesday. Rasoulof's film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" is to be shown at the main competition at Cannes Film Festival this month. The director, who is in his early 50s, has been sentenced to eight years in prison but will only serve five, Paknia said in a post on social media platform X. According to the lawyer, the appeals...