Jafar Panahi, the Cannes winner, has been sentenced to five years in prison in Iran.

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been sentenced to five years and one month in prison, along with asset confiscation, according to The Guardian. His lawyer, Mostafa Nili, reported that the verdict was delivered in absentia. Additionally, Panahi has been banned from leaving the country for two years and from using social media for the same duration. The charges against him remain unclear. Panahi returned to Iran in March after promoting his award-winning film, despite a previous one-year sentence for anti-government propaganda. Concerns have been raised among his peers regarding the ruling, highlighting the regime's fear of storytelling that transcends borders. Panahi's situation reflects the ongoing repression of artistic expression in Iran.