25th May 2010
Dear Jafar, even from so far away, I would like to welcome you back home. This is the nicest picture that we have all been dreaming of in the past very long thirteen weeks!
I think I am one of thousands of the people throughout the world who would like to congratulate you and welcome you back home with the greatest joy. I didn’t even realise how truthful my premonition was when your passport had been taken away in October 2009. Those thousands of people, we all had been worrying about you since 1st of March 2010 a lot, and it became all extreme since we have read about your hunger strike in the prison on 18th of May.
And yes, we fully realize the truth and the power of your words that you were only a small part of all the political prisoners in Iran but still we do celebrate your release and scream the happy words into the world: JAFAR PANAHI FREE (instead of the sad one FREE JAFAR PANAHI that we have followed on the Facebook for a long time of eighty six days). This freedom that cost 200 thousand USD is not a real one as we all realize but we do hope you will never end up in prison again.
In the middle of March, people from the whole world started to sign a petition calling for your release from prison, as putting it with the words of Abbas Kiarostami in his open letter at the internet: CULTURE IS NOT CRIME. Then the Oscar ceremony followed and nobody mentioned your name and we all were deeply disappointed. A Belgium TV station showed your film The Crimson Gold where the street scenes of awaiting policemen were painfully reminding us of the fact of your own imprisonment. Nobody has announced anything before the film either.
Then in the middle of April, many cities all over the world, including Rotterdam, Amsterdam and the Hague organised screenings of your films where we all were remembering you in your absence, before watching one of your great films, the Circle.
And then it all took a fortunate turn. The whole world seemed to wake up, the Hollywood directors started to protest, the Cannes Film Festival used its power for official protest. You were not released and not allowed to become a jury member and your chair stayed empty just to remind the whole world your destiny… but with last deed, that of Juliette Binoche and her strong individual protest, the miracle happened in the end. Jafar Panahi is FREE.
We hope your freedom to travel and make films again will follow soon, as the world cinema needs your courageous voice of art. And needless to say: we are looking forward to welcoming you in Rotterdam again, hopefully very soon.
Ludmila and Jafar in 2007