The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Berlin Film Festival 2020

There Is No Evil press conference: Backing Mohammad Rasoulof and the subjectivity of cinema

There Is No Evil press conference: Backing Mohammad Rasoulof and the subjectivity of cinema
29 February 2020
Oliver Johnston
Avatar
Oliver Johnston
29 February 2020

Special event

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was represented by a symbolic empty chair at the press conference for There Is No Evil, which was given a competition slot at the 70th Berlinale. Rasoulof has been arrested multiple times and is currently prohibited from leaving Iran – a travel ban which is the result of the concepts expressed in the director’s previous work, A Man of Integrity, which was awarded the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes. As producer Kaveh Farnam explained: “In September 2017, after he had returned to Iran and his film had been shown several times, Mr Rasoulof was interrogated by security officers and his passport was confiscated.” Describing the director’s current outlook, Farnam continued: “He is very well. He is full of hope, full of energy, and he is very strong.”

Producer Farzad Pak was defiant in his sentiments, pointing out: “All the crew put their heart and soul into it, and we didn’t find any specific reason why Mr Rasoulof was not allowed to make a film. He has the right to make his film, and we will continue this process in the future.”

Kaveh Ahangar tactfully declined to describe There Is No Evil as a political work; the actor said: “The film is not political in nature. All of the episodes depict a certain situation, and all the characters show their own convictions and beliefs; all the consequences emanate from their choices. Some have the ability to say yes, others say no. And I don’t think it’s about triggering a chain reaction, or pretending that a particular choice would be the right choice for everyone. It’s very personal. I don’t think that the film is really about setting off a revolution. After all, this is cinema, and everybody expresses their views differently.”

Oliver Johnston

There Is No Evil does not have a UK release date yet.

Read our review of There Is No Evil here.

Watch the press conference for There Is No Evil here:

 

Related Items

More in Berlinale

A Little Love Package

★★★★★
Oliver Johnston
Read More

Sonne

★★★★★
Selina Sondermann
Read More

Gangubai Kathiawadi

★★★★★
Selina Sondermann
Read More

“I was always trying to find this equilibrium between improvising and following the script”: Carla Simón on Golden Bear-winning Alcarràs

Sarah Bradbury
Read More

A E I O U – A Quick Alphabet of Love: An interview with Nicolette Krebitz

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Berlinale 2022: Awards predictions and highlights from the festival

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Concerned Citizen

★★★★★
Oliver Johnston
Read More

So-seol-ga-ui yeong-hwa (The Novelist’s Film)

★★★★★
Selina Sondermann
Read More

Rimini: An interview with director Ulrich Seidl

Selina Sondermann
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Special event

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Albert Adrià reopens Enigma on 7 June as a “fun-dining” restaurant and cocktail bar
    Food & Drinks
  • Paolo Nutini at the 100 Club
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Crimes of the Future: Three new clips from David Cronenberg’s dystopian body horror film
    Cannes
  • Plan 75
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • November (Novembre)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Forever Young (Les Amandiers)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • “Ruben is wonderful at picking holes in our behaviour and our egos”: Woody Harrelson, Ruben Östlundand and cast at the Triangle of Sadness press conference
    Cannes Film Festival 2022
  • Summer Scars (Nos Cérémonies)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Holy Spider (Les Nuits de Mashad)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Emergency
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Men
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Triangle of Sadness
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Aftersun
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Paris Memories (Revoir Paris)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Police (Night Shift) press conference with Anne Fontaine, Virginie Efira and Omar Sy
Berlin Film Festival 2020: Awards predictions and highlights from the festival