Who is Mahnaz Mohammadi, the Iranian filmmaker who sent a lock of hair to India?

Most wouldn’t have heard of Iranian filmmaker Mahnaz Mohammadi until now. However, on 9 December, she made headlines in the country after she sent a lock of her hair to the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).

Mohammadi was invited by the award organisers to receive the Spirit of Cinema award. However, she could not travel to the country last week as she was unable to renew her passport.

Greek filmmaker and jury member at IFFK, Athina Rachel Tsangari received the award on her behalf at the award ceremony that was held in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram.

After receiving the award, Tsangari held the lock of Mohammadi’s hair as the audience applauded her.

In an email interview with BBC, the filmmaker said, “Cut hair is the symbol of the tragedy that we face every day and every moment.” She added that she “could not stop crying” after she witnessed the elated response to the display of her lock of hair at the film festival in the southern state of India.

Also read: Living under Sharia laws in 21st century a humiliation, says Iranian activist, chastises West for Islamophobia hoax

Who is Mahnaz Mohammadi?

Mahnaz Mohammadi is an outspoken critic of the Iranian government. She has been advocating against gender inequality in her country through her films that highlight the plight of women and the fight for human rights.

In an interview with The News Minute, the Son-Mother maker said that she used to write for child and teenage magazines and radio. However, “she met certain women and was very influenced by them.” “I also had many questions and hence I made documentaries to find the answer. I believe in the power of film,” she said.

Mohammadi’s first film, Women Without Shadows released in 2003 was a short documentary depicting the lives of homeless women living in a shelter in her country. She has been interviewing and tracking the daily lives and struggles of Iranian women ever since.

The 47-year-old filmmaker isn’t afraid and is no stranger to controversies.

In 2007, she was detained for demonstrating outside a Tehran court in support of five fellow activists who were undergoing trial. She also laid a wreath at the grave of Neda Agha Sultan, 26, who was shot during protests against the re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

The following year, the Iranian government banned her from travelling to other countries after the release of her documentary titled Travelogue, where she interviewed people, who were fleeing the country, on a train between Tehran and Ankara. This was her first travel ban.

She also appeared in 2011’s Ethereal Marriage, where she portrayed a widow who was in a relationship with her brother-in-law. The film premiered at Cannes. In the same year, she was arrested again for two-and-a-half months for raising her voice against the autocratic Iranian regime.

In 2014, Mohammadi served a five-year sentence “for running propaganda against the Iranian regime.”

Mohammadi released her first fictional film Son-Mother in 2019. The film tracks the story of a widow and her challenges while raising two children. She receives a marriage proposal from a bus driver, however, the marriage could tear her family apart.

Also read: Iran’s gender apartheid and its continued discrimination against women

Three years later, the filmmaker and activist is trying to make her voice heard again by staging protests along with the thousands of Iranian women for Mahsa Amini’s death, the 22-year-old, who was killed three days after she was taken in custody by the morality police for allegedly not following the dress code for women in the country.

BBC quoted the filmmaker as saying that she spent her life enduring restrictions and that the country’s “patriarchal system” benefitted “men,” while women “remained in bondage because of their gender.”

“For Iranian woman, the hijab was a symbol of many discriminations as it was forced on us at school at the age of seven and covered all my thoughts,” the outlet quoted the filmmaker.

While speaking at the 64th Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, she said, “I am a woman and a filmmaker, two reasons sufficient to be treated like a criminal in this country.”

Also read: 400 protestors jailed for up to 10 years in Tehran: Iran judiciary

Protests in Iran

Iran has witnessed women-led protests following the death of Mahsa Amini on 13 September. The agitations are considered to be one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

The protests have spread across 161 cities in all 31 Iranian regions. Many artists, athletes, human rights groups, and others have raised their voices for women’s rights. However, politicians and leaders have termed the protests as ‘riots’ that are instigated by the country’s foreign enemies.

Also read: Who is Amir Nasr-Azadani, footballer who faces execution in Iran?

Iran executes people over protests

In reaction to the protests, the Iranian authorities have been carrying out public executions of protesters with the first one taking place last Thursday. Mohsen Shekari, 23, was the first to be convicted for “enmity against God” after being found to have attacked a member of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Forces member with a machete in Tehran.

On Monday, Iran carried out its second execution — 23-year-old Majidreza Rahnavard. The court convicted him of “enmity against God” after he killed two members of the Basij Resistance Forces by stabbing them.

He was hanged over 23 days after being arrested.

With inputs from agencies

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