Mini biography

Mohammad Nourizad (December 10th, 1952, Shahriar County, Iran)

Born 10 December 1952 in Shahriar County, Mohammad Nourizad is an Iranian filmmaker, activist, and former journalist for the conservative daily Kayhan.

He was arrested on 17 April 2010 and was sentenced to three and half years of imprisonment and 50 lashes after writing a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, urging him to apologize to the nation for the bloody crackdown on the opposition after the disputed 2009 June presidential elections.

Arrest

In the English-language media he achieved note after being arrested on 20 November 2009, on charges of “insulting authorities and propagation against Islamic Republic of Iran.”

His arrest followed the publishing of a protest letter by him to the Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, urging Khamenei to apologize to the country for the bloody crackdown on the opposition movement after the disputed June 2009 presidential elections.

On 18 April 2010, it was reported that he was sentenced to 50 lashes and three-and-a-half years in prison.

His protest was called "unexpected" as he was "a prominent Iranian conservative respected by supporters" of the Islamic regime, and "explicitly targeting" the Supreme Leader for criticism in his letter. The letter read in part:

"As commander in chief of the armed forces, you didn't treat people well after the election. Your agents opened fire, killed the people, beat them and destroyed and burnt their property. Your role in this can't be ignored, ... Your apology can cool down the wrath of the people."

A year earlier he had "aroused a wave of protest and criticism" with an article on his blog (Gah-e Nevesht) calling for Iran’s leading clerics to avoid getting involved in governmental affairs, after several such clerics called for the dismissal of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei. (Masha’i had made a statement regarding the friendly relations between the Iranian nation and the Israeli people, as opposed to the Israeli state.)

His sentence has been protested by The Islamic Society of the students of the cinema and theater department of Tehran's Art University. He has twenty days to appeal it.

Hunger strike

On 11 December 2010, Nourizad started a hunger strike to protest a lack of attention from Iranian authorities to his complaints of alleged mistreatment by interrogators at the Evin prison. On 16 December authorities detained his family members after they showed up outside the prison to inquire about his failing health. -- Wikipedia

Filmography

1986  All together - Hame ba Ham  (Director and Screenwriter)
1989  Thirsty Palmae - Nakhlestan-e Teshne  (Director and Screenwriter)
1990  The Sea for You - Darya baraye To  (Screenwriter only)
1991  The Bullets and the Flowers - Gol-ha va Golouleh-ha  (Screenwriter only)
2000  Waiting - Entezar  (Director and Screenwriter)
2005  The Persian Prince - Shahzadeh-ye Parsi  (Director and Screenwriter)
2007  My Southern Land - Sarzamin-e Jonoubi-ye Man  (Director and Screenwriter)
2009  Flags of Kaveh's - Castle Parcham-haye Ghal'eye Kaveh  (Director and Screenwriter)

Director - Selected filmography

1. Flags of Kaveh's Castle | Parchamhaye qalehe Kaveh (2009)