Iran authorities ban 13th ISFA Film Festival over hijab controversy

Iranian authorities have decided to ban the 13th edition of the ISFA Film Festival that had been scheduled for September. It came after the Iranian Short Film Association recently released a publicity poster featuring actor Susan Taslimi who was not wearing a hijab.

The poster used a photo of Taslimi from the 1982 film The Death of Yazdgerd. Iran’s culture minister has personally issued an order to ban the film festival, after using a photo of an actor without the compulsory headscarf on its poster, according to the state news agency, IRNA.

Regime Announces New Hijab Campaign

Since 1983, four years after the Islamic revolution, the hijab has been a compulsory part of the country’s strict dress code. But an increasing number of women have lately been rejecting the rules. Things started taking a different route after September last year.

Massive months-long deadly protests broke out last autumn, triggered by the mysterious death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. The Kurdish woman had been arrested by the infamous morality police for allegedly breaching the dress code.

While rumours surrounding the morality police’s disbanding circulated for some time, it became evident earlier this month that patrols had been relaunched to arrest the scores of Iranian women ignoring the rules and not wearing the headscarf.

No Individual Or Business Is Immune

According to the judiciary’s Mizan Online website, legal measures were being taken against one of the offices of Iran’s biggest e-commerce company, Digikala, over images of female employees not wearing the compulsory hijab.

On Wednesday, prominent actor Afsaneh Bayegan was handed a suspended two-year prison sentence by a court in Tehran for failing to wear the head covering at a public event. She was also ordered to make weekly visits to a psychological centre and submit a health certificate.