Iranian Actress Faces Flogging Over Film

An Iranian actress has been sentenced to 90 lashes and a year in prison for appearing in an Australian film showing her not wearing a headscarf. Marziah Vafamehr, star of the film MY TEHRAN FOR SALE, was imprisoned in July. The film follows an actress who finds herself banned from working on stage by the Iranian authorities. The film shows Iranian young people going to underground raves, smoking hashish and having sex before marriage. The producers have said the film was never intended for distribution within Iran, and its dissemination on the black market in Tehran has been totally outside their control. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the Australian government was “deeply concerned” about Vafamehr’s arrest. Cyan Films, the South Australia-based production company which made the award-winning film, said it was “deeply shocked and appalled” by her sentence. Apparently the Iranian government’s excuse for the arrest is that the film was shot in the Iranian capital without proper shooting permits.

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