In December 2010, Mohammad Rasoulof, along with his editor - Iranian director Jafar Panahi - were sentenced to six years in prison for film-related activities. Since then, many notable people in the film industry, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Oliver Stone, have expressed solidarity with Rasoulof and Panahi. In January 2011, the film foundation and human rights organizationCine Foundation International launched a video protest mechanism called WHITE MEADOWS , developed by Ericson deJesus. The video mechanism "allow anyone in the world to record a short video statement about Panahi and Rasoulof.". In October 2011, – "The Appeals Court of Tehran Province has issued its rulings for Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof who were sentenced to prison terms and bans by the lower court. Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof are two Iranian filmmakers and directors charged with acting against national security and propaganda against the regime." "Following the defendants’ objections and requests for appeal, their cases were reviewed by the 54th branch of the Appeals Court in Tehran Province. The Appeals Court then issued its final rulings upholding the verdict against Jafar Panahi but reducing Mohammad Rasoulof’s prison sentence to one year."
Reviews
“It is a valuable work that calls on its audience to brave such matters without the balm of resolution. And for such a work to be so transportingly beautiful and so immediately human -- this is a treasure.” –Frontline “Throughout, Iranian ills are movingly condemned, but it's The White Meadows's more general, humanistic portrait of man's multifaceted nature that truly inspires, its social critique ultimately enhanced by its recognition of the fallibility, irrationality and inscrutability of people's hearts and minds.” – “Cinematographer Ebrahim Ghafouri has done an astonishing, painterly job. Like the Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, he sets the human figure in diminished perspective amid expansive landscapes.” – “Though rich in allegory, the film keeps its symbolism obscure enough to evade both Iranian censors and filmgoers looking for obvious critiques of the current political situation, but its beauty and always fascinating imagery should attract a steadfast fest crowd.” – “Rasoulof's tale goes beyond the neorealist qualities so often described in Iranian New Wave Cinema. The film is vividly real in its humanistic portrayals and natural landscapes, but under the folkloric lens of Rasoulof, Panahi and Ghafori it drifts into magic-realism.” - Jason Cangialosi, writing at 2010 Denver Film Festival for Yahoo! Voices
