Rudd condemns lashing verdict

Marzieh Vafamehr. Photo / Supplied

Australia has urged Iran to reconsider the sentence of one year's jail and 90 lashes imposed on a noted actress and film-maker for her performance in a movie produced with South Australian funding.

Full details of the charges on which Marzieh Vafamehr was convicted are not clear, but they are understood to relate to a scene in My Tehran For Sale in which she appears without a traditional Hajib head covering, and with her hair cut short.

The film, first shown at the Adelaide Film Festival two years ago and later at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada, was shot in Tehran but made in Australia.

It was directed by Granaz Moussavi, a friend of Vafamehr's who left Iran in 1997.

Vafamehr's conviction followed other reported arrests of independent film-makers in what is seen as a crackdown on artistic dissent by Iran's hardline Islamic government.

A statement from Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd's office said Australia condemned the use of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and was deeply concerned by the reports of Vafamehr's sentence.

"The Australian Government urges Iran to protect the rights of all Iranians and foreign citizens," it said.

My Tehran For Sale has never been released in Iran, but provoked authorities when pirated copies began circulating in the country.

The movie tells the fictional story of Marzieh, a young Iranian actress and fashion designer, whose work is banned by the Government, forcing her into an underground art world threatened by arrest and harsh punishment.

Marzieh meets Saman, an Iranian-born Australian, at an illegal rave party and manages to fly to Australia with him - but instead of her expected freedom is held in detention.

Moussavi has described the film as a story of her generation, a "life of double standards ... lies and pretence", and told one interviewer that it also reflected Vafamehr's struggle to survive both as an artist and a woman.

Vafamehr was arrested last year and is reportedly appealing her sentence.

She wrote on Facebook: "Freedom has no walls. But these ideologues deny it." Vafamehr's family and supporters had wanted to restrict reporting of her sentence during what is expected to be a lengthy appeal process in a bid to avoid "unhelpful" Western comment, but the news was broken by an Iranian opposition website.

Yesterday the film's makers and producers said they were "deeply shocked and appalled" by the sentence.

"Adelaide-based company Cyan Films worked with an established Iranian production company to produce the film and all proper government permits were obtained for filming," they said in a statement reported by ABC radio.

"The producers would like to emphasise that Marzieh's involvement in the film was limited to her role as an actress and she was not in any other way involved in the behind-the-scenes film-making ...

"We continue to offer our support to Marzieh and her family by respecting their wishes to let the case and the appeal follow the proper legal channels."

The Iranian website Kalameh.com says Vafamehr's lawyer has appealed the sentence. It says she has been in jail since July and suggests the charges relate to film permits.