Kurdish director Bahman Ghobadi has written an open letter to Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani, urging him to stop the execution of Kurds.

The letter, posted on Ghobadi’s official Facebook page, warns the Iranian leader that the on-going hangings could lead to more acts of violence. “Your election posters still hung on city walls when news of the hangings reached us, and the people’s hope turned to despair. The recent hangings have opened old wounds that come from years of torture,” writes Ghobadi.

According to Kurdish media, Iranian authorities have hanged more than ten Kurdish political prisoners in just a few weeks, this has lead to international condemnation. “It feels like yesterday that you wished for the jails to be emptied of prisoners. But it seems that the process of emptying the jails was not on the basis of freeing the prisoners, but on sending them to the hanging ropes. Your talks about ending the question of ‘national security’ have turned out to be the same empty talks, rooted in publicity and harmful to the already damaged Iranian.” Ghobadi concluded his appeal by saying: “I ask you to stop the hangings and instead provide possibility for a just trial for all political prisoners. Do not mark an ambiguous and dangerous future for Iran through suppression and violence.” The independent filmmaker sought refuge in Iraq and then Turkey, three and a half years ago, and has been in exile since. Several actors and directors have had to flee Iran in order to pursue their art undisturbed.

Ghobadi's first feature film was A Time for Drunken Horses (2000), the first Kurdish film produced in Iran. The film won the Caméra d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His second feature was Marooned in Iraq (2002), which brought him the Gold Plaque from the Chicago International Film Festival. His third feature, Turtles Can Fly, followed in 2004, winning the Glass Bear and Peace Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

In 2006, Ghobadi's Half Moon won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. Iran's renowned actors Golshifteh Farahani, Hassan Poorshirazi and Hedyeh Tehrani acted in this movie. The music of the movie was made by Iran's musician Hossein Alizadeh. The film, which was a collaborative project by Iran, France, Austria and Iraq, was shot fully in Iranian Kurdistan. However, it narrates the story of a group of Iranian Kurdish musicians who would like to travel to Iraqi Kurdistan and organize a concert there.

In 2006, Index on Censorship gave Ghobadi an Index Film Award for making a significant contribution to freedom of expression through his film Turtles Can Fly.

In May 2009, his film No One Knows About Persian Cats won an Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize ex-aequo when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. This film chronicles the hardships facing young Iranian musicians seeking to evade censorship.