Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti was arrested for criticizing the execution of an anti-regime protester. the actress starred in the 2016 Oscar-winning film, The Salesman.” and is very popular in Iran. European film festivals and organizations issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling on Iranian authorities to release her from prison.

The Berlinale, Rotterdam, IDFA and the European Film Academy, among other key organizations, including the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk and the German Film Academy, are demanding the “immediate and unconditional release” of Alidoosti.

The imprisonment of Taraneh, of one of Iran’s most famous performers sends a clear signal to celebrities it will not tolerate any challenge to its rapidly crumbling authority,” said EFA Chair, Mike Downey, “We call on Iranian authorities to put an end to the arbitrary detentions. The Iranian people are being denied fundamental freedoms, among them expression and peaceful assembly,” Downey continued. He also pointed that “prominent figures from the film industry are being unfairly targeted along with lawyers, cultural figures, journalists and campaigners.”

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk and its founding institutions, meanwhile, said they “(declared their) full and heartfelt solidarity with all those in Iran who stand up for their basic human rights and the freedom of expression and call on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Taraneh Alidoosti and her colleagues.”

Acclaimed director Asghar Farhadi demanded her release. She appeared in four of his films. Farhadi used his Instagram account to demand Alidoosti’s release, as well as other lesser-known industry people. Farhadi is a two-time Oscar-winning director who is revered in Iran.

“I have worked with Taraneh on four films and now she is in prison for her rightful support of her fellow countrymen and her opposition to the unjust sentences being issued,” Farhadi wrote on Instagram. “If showing such support is a crime, then tens of millions of people of this land are criminals.”

“I stand with Taraneh and demand her release alongside that of my other fellow cineastes Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof and all the other less-known prisoners whose only crime is the attempt for a better life,” Farhadi added, referring to two acclaimed Iranian filmmakers who were widely reported to have been punished by the regime before the latest wave of protests.

Taraneh Alidoosti was detained about a week after she posted on Instagram expressing solidarity with Mohsen Shekari, the first known execution linked to the protests which began on September 23. IRNA, an Iranian state media outlet, reported Saturday that Alidoosti was arrested and imprisoned. She allegedly was arrested because she did not provide the media arm of the country’s judiciary with “any documents in line with her claims.” In her Instagram post she wrote, “Every international organization who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action, is a disgrace to humanity.”

So, it looks like her community, the international film community, is coming together to demand her release. The protests that have swept across Iran since September 16 after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini present forceful challenges to Iran’s clerical regime. The regime, installed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, have failed to stop the protests. Their punishment of protesters has ramped up as the regime grows more frustrated. The regime is brutal against its own people.

The regime will not be swayed by people in the entertainment industry calling for the release of a well-known actress. She’s a prized prisoner for them, one that they are making an example of and discouraging others from using social media in favor of the protests. The joint statement issued by the film festivals and organizations will, however, help keep support for Taraneh Alidoosti and others imprisoned for protesting, or showing support for protesters, in front of the Iranian public. It brings attention to their cause, which is a worthy one. Human rights, including the right for women to be in public without covering their heads, is a cause those of us in the West can understand. Wouldn’t it be nice if the leader of the free world would speak out and say something supportive of the protesters. He keeps telling us how supportive he is of women’s rights. Yet, not a peep from Sleepy Joe. Nothing from American or European feminists, either. Funny how that works.