While accepting the National Board of Review’s award for Best International Feature on Monday, January 13th, It Was Just an Accident filmmaker Jafar Panahi called on the international film community to speak out as a brutal crackdown on demonstrators by the Iranian government continues.

The following is Jafar Panahi’s speech:

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the [National Board of Review]. But I cannot speak easily, because as we stand here the state of Iran is gunning down protestors and a savage massacre continues blatantly on the streets of Iran.

“Perhaps cinema is supposed to make viewers laugh and cry. It is supposed to make us feel terrified and safe. Perhaps cinema must make us fall in love, then kill us with love, and teach us, and make us think. But today, the real scene is not on screens but on the streets of Iran.

“The Islamic Republic has caused a bloodbath to delay its collapse. Bodies are piling up on bodies and those who have survived are searching for signs of their loved ones through mountains of corpses.

“This is no longer a metaphor. This is not a story. This is not a film. This is a reality ridden with bullets, day after day.

“In accepting this award I consider it my duty to call on artists and members of the global film community to speak out and not remain silent. Use any voice and any platform you have. Call on your governments to confront this human catastrophe rather than turn a blind eye. Do not let blood dry in the darkness of amnesia.

“Today, cinema has the power to stand by defenseless people. Let us stand by them.”

Over the weekend, Jafar Panahi and exiled Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof penned a letter expressing concern amid an ongoing communication blackout in Iran:

In recent days, following the presence of millions of Iranians in the streets protesting against the Islamic Republic, the government has once again resorted to its most blatant tools of repression.

On the one hand, the Iranian regime has cut off communication routes inside the country— the internet, mobile phones, and landlines — severing people’s ability to communicate with one another; and on the other hand, it has completely blocked all means of contact with the outside world.

Experience has shown that resorting to such measures is intended to conceal the violence inflicted during the suppression of protests.

We are deeply concerned for the lives of our fellow citizens, our families, and our colleagues and friends who, under these circumstances, have been left defenseless.

We call on the international community, human rights organizations, and the independent media to immediately find ways to facilitate access to vital information in Iran by enabling communication platforms, and monitor what is happening in Iran.

History bears witness that silence today will have regretful consequences in the future.

Jafar Panahi
Mohamed Rasoulof

The protests against government of the Islamic Republic cannot be ignored. I stand in complete solidarity with Jafar Panahi and all the Iranians who are fighting for a Free Iran. For more on how we got to where we are today, I recommend watching Radical Obsession. At this point, there are reported to be several thousand killed at the hands of the Islamic Republic and the IRGC.

What’s sad about this entire situation is that there are many people who have spent the past two years and change protesting against the State of Israel over the Israel-Hamas War. But when it comes to Iranians protesting their government and getting killed, those very people have managed to lose their voice. Where is Hollywood? Where is the documentary community? What about every single person who decided to sign onto a boycott of the left-wing Israeli film industry? It’s overwhelming silence on their part! I beg of you to please listen to the likes of Jafar Panahi and other Iranians who are asking for your help.

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