Mostafa Aleahmad completed his studies in painting and acting and started his film career in the 1990s by designing scenes for cinema and television.

He has made several short films, animations and documentaries. His short films were screened in various festivals such as Montreal, Canada, Pusan, South Korea, Tokyo, Switzerland, Finland, and Montecatini, and succeeded in receiving international awards such as the Unica (Union Internationale du Cinéma) Medal among others.

Aleahmad has also collaborated with German and Finnish TV channels and made documentaries and animations for them. He is the director, scriptwriter and set designer of Poosteh (Shell or Crust), his first feature movie from 2009.

Arrested for publishing an open letter, “Lay Down Your Arms”

Aleahmad and Rasoulof were among some 170 prominent Iranian filmmakers, artists and actors who signed an open letter on May 29 calling for security forces in the country to “lay down their arms” and side with the people over a government described in the letter as rife with “corruption, theft, inefficiency, and repression.” The letter was in response to the brutal suppression of protests that followed the collapse of a 10-story building in the city of Abadan which killed dozens.

IRNA news agency, in a short news published on the evening of July 8, accused Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Aleahmad of "connection with the counter-revolution" and "causing tension and disrupting the mental security of people."

Reactions

The Iranian Human Rights Organization announced the arrest of Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Aleahmad as a "gross violation of freedom of speech" and "fundamental freedoms of citizens" and demanded their immediate and unconditional release.

Dozens of Iranian filmmakers and artists have called for the "immediate" and "unconditional" release of Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Aleahmed in a statement. Asghar Farhadi and Fateme Motamed-Arya were among them who signed this petition.