THE IRANIAN MOVIE MAKER SOUGHT ASYLUM IN GERMANY
President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s culture and media
advisor Mehdi Kalhor’s daughter film producer Nargues Kalhor fled to Germany and
sought asylum in Germany. It was surprising for the conservative circles that a
member of M.Kalhor’s family, who has been at the inner circle of Ahmedinejad for
the last 10 years, adopted reformist ideas and sought asylum in Germany due to
the oppressive environment in Iran. N.Kalhor was attracting attentions with her
short films and went to Germany for the screening of her last film “Darhish”
which won an award and tells about torture. It is claimed that N.Kalhor was a
supporter of the “Green Wave” political movement led by Mir Hussein Musawi; and
that she fled abroad due to the anti-democratic practices in Iran.
Nargues Kalhor made a declaration through the
personal website of her fellow reformist Iranian filmmaker Hana Makhmalbaf: “I
came to Germany for cinema reasons on my own desire and I do not share my
father’s political views. This is the correct path, the path of these millions
of people who went to the streets asking for freedom.” It is also learned that
prominent filmmakers Jafar Penahi was stopped while he was to leave the country
for Paris, and Fatima Mutemidariya and Mostafa Mirtahmasb for the USA. Their
passports were seized.
N.Kalhor’s father Mehdi Kalhor mentioned “I did not
know about my daughter’s plans to leave the country. This is the outcome of the
psychological warfare started by the Iranian opposition. My daughter is deceived
by the enemies of Iran and used as propaganda means against the government.”
