Roxana Saberi: Out of Iranian Prison, Into a Soap Opera

Last month, after frantically trying to find a Ghobadi film (subtitled in English) to watch and discuss with my class (I have been an even bigger fan after meeting him at the Deutscherhof last year) I stumbled across the open letter written by Ghobadi to his fiancee, Roxana Saberi! I had no idea. Of course now this is old news, but I couldn't help but post a link to this story simply because I liked the title. Please click the link to read the WHOLE (including the info about her release from prison) article and not just the juicy bits I pasted below.

Roxana Saberi: Out of Iranian Prison, Into a Soap Opera:

"Even as Saberi's parents rejoiced at her release there was additional drama in front of the prison. Also waiting there was internationally acclaimed filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi, who had published an open letter last month declaring that Saberi was his fiancee. He told TIME that he believed it was in great part because of his endeavors that Saberi was being released so quickly. He said he had a meeting with government and judiciary officials a few days ago, in which he explained to them the importance of Saberi appearing at the opening of his new film on Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival, 'because she was going to talk about the Persian Gulf. I told them it would be good for Iran.' Ghobadi has cited Saberi as a co-writer on his latest film."

There was clear friction between Ghobadi and Saberi's parents, who kept themselves several feet apart from the director. At one point, Ghobadi approached Saberi's visibly shaken mother, but she pushed him away, motioning him away with her hands. After Ghobadi's letter, Reza Saberi announced that he could not confirm Ghobadi as his daughter's fiancee. One source close to the family said they perceive him as taking advantage of her recent newsworthiness to publicize his film, and wonder why he was not speaking out for her before her case attracted such international attention. Ghobadi said he had been ordered to keep silent by sources he could not reveal, and finally broke his silence when he "could no longer hold it."