Iran International:

Azadeh Akbari

The Iranian people are being held hostage, dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof told an audience at the Cannes Film Festival awards ceremony, after receiving the festival's special award.

Rasoulof who recently fled Iran after getting an eight-year jail term, won the prestigious festival's Special Award for Best Screenplay during a Friday ceremony for his latest film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig".

After receiving the award, Rasoulof said, "I am very happy for this award, and at the same time, my heart is with the people of Iran who wake up every day, every hour, and every morning to a disaster."

He added, "The people of Iran have been taken hostage."

Rasoulof also spoke about many dissident artists and writers that he said suffer under the rule of a “tyrannical and oppressive regime.”

Referring to political prisoners in Iran, he mentioned the young dissident rapper, Toomaj Salehi, who has been sentenced to death.

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