French-Iranian Director Blocked From Shooting Movie in France Due to Visa Rejections

Diako Yazdani, a French-Iranian director, has been unable to continue with the works of his film due to the visa rejections of his cast.

Yazdani was expected to shoot his movie during a two-week period, and according to him, all the necessary preparations for the movie to be shot during this period were finalised, Schengen.News reports.

However, the French authorities rejected visas for the crew cast, which was compromised by his 15 family members as the movie was intended to portray the life of his family. The film was banned from being filmed in Iran, and one part of the movie has already been recorded in Suleimaniye, Iraqi Kurdistan. 

For the final part of the movie, the director had planned to film it in France, with some of the scenes taking place at the Palace of Versailles. 

Visas Were Rejected Due to High Risk of Immigration Concerns 
The director, who had been naturalised five years ago, was told by a contact at the French embassy in Iran that the reason for this refusal was related to the “high risk of immigration”, indicating that Yazdani’s family might not return back to Iran after shooting.

Moreover, Yazdani made the request to bring 15 of his family members to the country, but over the weeks, as France 24 reports, he was required to remove some of the crew members, starting with the sisters-in-law and the brother-in-law. 

Then, he had to remove the children of his sister and brother, taking the total number of the crew from 16 to five people. This can impact his work, making it more difficult for him to shoot the scenes as initially planned.

The filmmaker previously won the documentary film jury prize at the Chéries-Chéris LGBT+ film festival with his “All the Lives of Kojin” (2019) movie, which also portrayed his family.

Source: https://schengen.news/french-iranian-director-blocked-from-shooting-movie-in-france-due-to-visa-rejections/