Detained Iranian actress and documentary filmmaker Marzieh Vafamehr appeared in court yesterday, where her arrest warrant was renewed for another month.
The extension was granted to allow for “field investigations,” Shargh newspaper reports.
Vafamehr has been under arrest for more than 20 days. Her family has speculated her arrest may be connected with her leading role in the film My Tehran for Sale by Geranaz Mousavi, the Australian-based Iranian poet/filmmaker.
Vafamehr’s husband, prominent Iranian filmmaker Nasser Taghvayi, told Shargh: “They are planning to acquire further information from the main creators of the film; however, they live in different countries.”
Taghvayi added that he had met with the head of the cinema department of the Ministry of Culture and Guidance and brought to his attention that the film in question had received a permit from the ministry.
He added: “The film was made by Geranaz Mousavi, who sent me a copy of agreements with an Iranian company. The DOP and other actors on the film came to Iran from Australia on a work permit and filmed it all in Tehran.”
Highlighting Iran’s social hardships, the film reportedly depicts the life of an independent artist who, upon meeting a young man at a party, decides to leave the country.
Vafamehr reportedly appears in parts of the film with a shaved head and without the head scarf that is mandatory for all women appearing in public in Iran.
