The cast of 'persian noir' film 'Holy Spider' protested in support of women's rights in Iran at the London Film Festival on Saturday (October 8) ahead of its UK premiere.
The September police-custody death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd, ignited nationwide demonstrations in Iran, marking the biggest challenge to the nation's clerical leaders in years.
Dressed as a Muslim cleric, with his hands and mouth covered in fake blood, director Ali Abbasi walked onto the red carpet together with actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi and producers wearing t-shirts reading "Women, life, freedom" in Farsi.
“It’s not easy to be here presenting this movie while people are dying in the street,”Amir Ebrahimi said, referencing the ongoing violence in Iran.
“It’s amazing what’s going on there just for freedom, for women for life and it’s…I think the message is more than women rights, I think, today, it’s about human rights It’s sad, I think, but there is a wall that was just broken, there is no way back," she added.
In the film, Amir Ebrahimi plays the role of a female journalist who risks her life to uncover the perpetrator of the murders of several sex workers.
Asked about how her character relates to those Iranian women protesting for their rights in Iran, Amir Ebrahimi said she shares their courage and selflessness in sacrificing her.
“I got a message, two nights, three nights ago from a friend who told me ‘I am going to the street for you and for myself’ and there I just thought that this journalist in this movie risked her life not only because of her or because of those street workers, but for everyone, for the freedom,” she said.
Describing the contradictory nature of Iranian society, where women may be highly trained doctors and engineers but are also subject to tight controls over what they wear and how they look in public, the director said he sought to expose these tensions which are as present as twenty years ago, when the killings happened.
"Right now, we are not far away from where we were twenty years ago, or thirty years ago, or forty years ago,"Abbasi said.
"I’m fed up, I’m not going to take it anymore," he added.
A group of independent protesters also joined the cast on the red carpet, in an impromptu demonstration of solidarity towards their fellow citizens.
The September police-custody death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd, ignited nationwide demonstrations in Iran, marking the biggest challenge to the nation's clerical leaders in years.
An Iranian state coroner's report denied that Amini had died due to blows to the head and limbs while in police custody and linked her death to pre-existing medical conditions, state media said on Friday (October 7).