Iranian actress in prison for role in film ‘My Tehran For Sale’

Summary of story from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, July 21, 2011

Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr has been held in a prison in a Tehran suburb for the past month on charges related to her appearance in the film “My Tehran For Sale”.

Her husband, Nasser Taghvai, a prominent film director and screenwriter, said that the charges against his wife are nonpolitical and related to the movie, in which she played the lead role.

“My Tehran For Sale” (2009) is an Australian-Iranian coproduction and was the directorial debut of Granaz Mussavi. The film focuses on the social problems faced by young Iranians.

Ms Vafamehr was arrested by the newly-established Prosecutor’s Office for Culture and Media. She is supposed to be kept in detention at the Gharchak prison until the investigation is complete.

Taghvai said such investigations are usually carried out by the Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, whose staff, he said, at least have some knowledge of the arts and cinema, not by an institution whose staff have “no such knowledge and who mistake fiction for reality.”