A film by an Iranian director about capital punishment has won the top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, the BBC reports.
Mohammad Rasoulof was banned from directing in 2017 and produced There Is No Evil, his sixth film, in secret.
He is unable to travel outside Iran due to charges relating to his earlier films.
Mr Rasoulof’s daughter Baran, who also stars in the film, received the Golden Bear on his behalf.
Jury president Jeremy Irons said that the film, which tells four stories about the death penalty, showed “the web an authoritarian regime weaves among ordinary people, drawing them towards inhumanity”.
Addressing a news conference by video call, Mr Rasoulof explained that There Is No Evil was about “people taking responsibility”.
“I wanted to talk about people who push responsibility away from themselves and say that the decision is taken by higher powers,” he said. “But they can actually say no, and that’s their strength.”
