There is No Evil
In four stories, Mohammad Rasoulof (A Man Of Integrity) shows the human consequences of Iran’s death penalty system. Winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin.
Heshmat, an exemplary husband and father, gets up very early every day. Where does he go? Pouya cannot imagine killing another man, yet he is told he must do so. Javad doesn’t know that proposing to his beloved won’t be the only surprise on her birthday. Bahram is a physician but is unable to practice medicine. He has decided to explain to his visiting niece the reason for his life as an outcast.
The four stories that comprise THERE IS NO EVIL offer variations on the crucial themes of moral strength and the death penalty, asking to what extent individual freedom can be expressed under a despotic regime and its seemingly inescapable threats. In each story, we are urged to consider how men and women can assert their freedom even in such situations.
Just like his Iranian colleague Jafar Panahi, director Mohammad Rasoulof is under a work ban. He has also been sentenced to a year in prison after being convicted of ‘spreading propaganda’ against the Islamic republic, a charge that is often brought against intellectuals and critics of the Iranian establishment. Several international film festivals and film institutions have called on Iranian authorities to drop all charges against the director. (mv)
On July 8, Mohammad Rasoulof, director of THERE IS NO EVIL, and his colleague Mostafa Al-Ahmad were arrested. They were taken to an unknown location, their producers stated via Twitter. Three days later, director Jafar Panahi, the father of Panah Panahi, director of HIT THE ROAD, was also arrested. These actions fit into an ongoing campaign of terror by Iran's rulers. Filmmakers like Rasoulof and Panahi have been harassed for years under the guise of 'propaganda against the system'. Rasoulof and Panahi were also locked up in their own homes during a year in 2010. The reason was Rasoulof's plan to make a film about the protests of the Green Movement, but officially the charge was 'filming without a permit'. They've also been prohibited to travel abroad for years. In 2019, Rasoulof was sentenced to a year in prison, after which he managed to complete THERE IS NO EVIL. The filmmaker appealed to the sentence and due to the corona crisis, the case is still in process.