Kaveh Mazaheri, writer and director of Botox Threw away his film Awards
From Mazaheri's Instagram 07-02-2023
Kaveh Mazaheri, who previously won two crystal simorghs at Iranian Fajr Film festival, threw them into the river.
Mazaheri, who is also the winner of the first prize at Torino Film Festival, released the following video in which he says: "I will definitely no longer make movies under the laws of this totalitarian, murderous and criminal system. And I will never participate in any festival organized by this system". "I hope for a free cinema, free artist and a free Iran. Woman, Life, Freedom", he emphasized.
Mazaheri: "The cinema we have in Iran is not what I always dreamt of. It is actually run by the government and its security organizations. We were not supposed to be operatives of tyranny.
Recently, I have withdrawn from participation in the Tehran International Short Film Festival to protest the current condition and the latest crisis in the country.
And I think that now is not the time for celebration, it is not the time for festivals and it is not the time for happiness. There is absolutely no reason for us filmmakers to gather for joy and celebration, let alone in today's condition of our country where cinema is the most insignificant and meaningless matter.
With respect to the judges who had awarded my movies "Retouch'' and "Botox'', at Fajr Film Festival, I am throwing away my two simorghes as a sign of protest.
The interesting fact is that these two films, even though they were made years ago, predicted what is happening in our country now, while narrating women's lives and rights at the center of it.
I will definitely no longer make movies under the laws of this totalitarian, murderous and criminal system. And I will never participate in any festival organized by this system.
In the hope of free cinema. In the hope of a free Iran and free artist. WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM."