The Berlin Movie Pageant and its accompanying European Movie Market won’t accredit any corporations or media shops with direct ties to the Russian or Iranian governments, the Berlinale confirmed in an announcement Wednesday. 

Berlin launched a ban on Russian-backed corporations and shops final 12 months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, following a coverage additionally carried out by the Cannes and Venice festivals. Now Berlin has added Tehran to the record, responding to the Iranian authorities’s brutal crackdown on the wave of protests which have rocked the nation for months. The demonstrations had been triggered by the loss of life, in September, of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested by the nation’s morality police for allegedly carrying her hijab incorrectly. 

Germany is residence to a big Iranian diaspora —together with such movie luminaries as Berlin Alexanderplatz director Burhan Qurbani and actress Jasmin Tabatabai (The Baader Meinhof Complicated) —and the nation has seen main demonstrations in help of the protestors. 

Any entity with direct hyperlinks to the Iranian authorities, like nationwide movie physique the Farabi Cinema Basis, which generally hosts a stand on the European Movie Market, will likely be banned from attending this 12 months. 

Berlin won’t ban movies from impartial Russian and Iranian administrators from taking part within the competition. The animated characteristic The Siren from French-based Iranian director Sepideh Farsi will open this 12 months’s Panorama part, the Berlinale’s foremost sidebar. 

In an announcement, the Berlinale mentioned it “staunchly condemns Russia’s ongoing conflict of aggression, which violates worldwide regulation, and expresses its solidarity with the individuals in Ukraine and all those that are campaigning towards this conflict.” In reference to Iran, the competition mentioned it “stands with the brave protesters in Iran as they defend themselves towards a violent, undemocratic regime.” 

Berlin emphasised that it “won’t exclude filmmakers, artists, business representatives or journalists due to their Russian or Iranian nationality. … Whereas we’re conscious that particular person scrutiny of accreditation purposes might not at all times end in clear conclusions, we stay dedicated to this plan of action.”

The 73rd Berlin Movie Pageant runs Feb. 16-26. The European Movie Market runs Feb. 16-22.