Panahi's Visa Not Everywhere He Wants to Be

Jafar Panahi

Word into Reeler HQ is that Iranian director Jafar Panahi, whose acclaimed 2006 Berlin and New York Film Festival selection Offside is slated for a March 23 release in NYC, has experienced a bit of a problem with our nation's thoughtful Washington bureaucracy and has now had his visa rescinded.

What this means for US distributor Sony Classics is a little harsher mellow coming off the triumph of The Lives of Others at Sunday's Oscars; Panahi will neither be doing two previously scheduled days of press nor appearing at the special screening of Offside planned for March 6 at the Museum of the Moving Image. A museum representative notes that the screening has now been rescheduled for March 10.

On the bright side, at least Panahi won't be subject to a reunion with the friendly gatekeepers at JFK.

UPDATE: A source sent a follow-up message Monday to insist that Panahi's visa is not rescinded, but simply delayed, and that the filmmaker will indeed be journeying stateside in support of Offside, albeit a few weeks late. The museum screening is still off, however; stay tuned for news of rescheduling or replacements.

Posted at February 26, 2007 2:13 PM