14 January 2026
Open Letter in Solidarity with the Brave People of Iran

As filmmakers and cultural workers, we speak out in solidarity with the people of Iran, who for more than two weeks have been protesting for their right to live in dignity and freedom.

The regime’s response follows a recurring pattern: instead of addressing the needs of the people, it is doing everything in its power to crush any protest at its outset.

For several days now, access to the internet and all telephone connections have been cut off, completely isolating the country from the outside world. Nevertheless, disturbing reports, videos and images have reached us - images of the brutal suppression of the protests. There is talk of thousands of deaths and arrests, an unbearable level of brutality.

Among the victims are colleagues and filmmakers AHMAD ABBASI and JAVAD GANJI, with whom some of us have collaborated on projects.

Right now, it is important that we help to ensure that the events in Iran do not disappear from the public eye - regardless of political differences and divisions.

We therefore ask you to show solidarity with the people of Iran, who continue to resist with extraordinary courage, in complete isolation.

Be their voice!

First signatories:

Jasmin Tabatabai – Actress

Mohammad Rasoulof - Director

Jafar Panahi - Director

Shirin Neshat - Artist & Director

Ali Samadi Ahadi - Director & Scriptwriter

Tom Tykwer - Director & Scriptwriter

Behrooz Karamizade - Director & Scriptwriter

Roshanak Khodabakhsh - Producer

Maria Schrader - Director & Actress

Caroline Link - Director

Detlev Buck - Director

Constantin Lieb - Scriptwriter

Dominik Graf - Director

Iris Berben - Actress

Heide Schwochow - Scriptwriter

Matthijs Wouter Knol - CEO European Film Academy

Lena May Graf - Scriptwriter & Director

Sherry Hormann - Director

Kaveh Farnam - Producer

Nader Saeivar - Director

Roxana Samadi - Actress & Director

Marie-Lou Sellem - Actress

Urte Fink - Commissioning Editor

Ayse Polat - Scriptwriter & Director

Mariusz Włodarski - Producer

Maryam Zaree - Actress & Director

Jorgo Narjes - Producer

Faraz Shariat - Director

Sara Fazilat - Director & Producer

Paulina Lorenz - Producer

Sina Ataeian Dena - Director

Tara Afsah - Producer

Siba Shakib - Scriptwriter & Director

Caroline Schreiber - Actress

Jonas Dassler - Actor

Hadi Khanjanpour - Actor

Hamed Soleimanzadeh - Film Critic

Aliaksei Paluyan - Scriptwriter & Director

Giorgi Abashishvili - Scriptwriter & Director

Wojciech Staron - Cinematographer

Esther Bernstorff - Scriptwriter

Elisabeth Köller - Producer

Niloufar Taghizadeh - Director & Producer

Parviz Sayad - Actor, Director & Producer

Manijeh Hekmat - Director

239
signatures
224 verified
  1. Florian Gallenberger, Director, Berlin
  2. Thomas Schultze, Journalist, THE SPOT media & film, Munich
  3. Hermann Florin, Producer, Feine Filme, Berlin
  4. Paul Beck, producer, Apollonia Film GmbH, Munich
  5. Amara Palacios, Producer, Munich
  6. Marc-Daniel Dichant, Producer, Dichant Riegel Film GbR
  7. Pascal Edelmann, film heritage, European Film Academy e.V., Berlin
  8. Ernestine Kahn, Dialogue Director, Dialect Coach, Berlin/Los Angeles
  9. Tobias Lehmann, Distributor, Alamode Film, Munich
  10. Petra Zieser, Actress
  11. Hansjörg Weißbrich, Film Editor, Freelancer, Berlin
  12. Ana De Mier y Ortuno, Editor, Munich
  13. Roxana Safarabadi, Actress, Berlin
  14. France orsenne, Producer, OG films, Berlin
  15. Tanja Georgieva-Waldhauer, Producer
  16. Maral Keshavarz, Actor
  17. Laura Fischer, Regisseurin, Berlin
  18. farzad khoshdast, Director, Europe Media nest, STRASBOURG
  19. Sophya Frohberg, Producer, Berlin
  20. Andrea Winkler, Artist
...
184 more
verified signatures
  1. Klaus salge, Director, Novemberfilm
  2. Silvia Itscherenska, Script Consultant, Berlin
  3. Lea Vajda, Artist
  4. Dana Rotberg, Filmmaker, México City
  5. Monique Busman, producer, Tomtit Film, amsterdam
  6. Georgia Mendes, Zürich
  7. Isabel Herguera, director, Donostia
  8. Nikos Labôt, Film Director, Athens
  9. Oleg Khristoliubskii, Director and Producer, Berlin
  10. Tim Bruening, Artist, Hamburg
  11. Frauke Sandig, Director, Berlin
  12. Andrea Wink, Festival Director, exground filmfest, Wiesbaden
  13. Erikka Jussila, Writer, Helsinki
  14. Laura Maack, Berlin
  15. Ciara Angela Mission Engelhardt, Filmmaker, Berlin
  16. Atena Eshtiaghi, Composer, Hamburg
  17. Pegah Karamizade, Sozialarbeiterin, Berlin
  18. Peter Cohrs, Journalist, Berlin
  19. Emma Turner, Actor, Bthechangetheatre CIC, Portsmouth
  20. Sina Karamizade, Erzieher, Berlin