An Iranian filmmaker whose work has won accolades at European film festivals has lost his appeal protesting against a work ban and prison sentence, dpa quoted Iran's state media as reporting Saturday.
Jafar Panahi was appealing a six-year prison sentence and a 20-year work ban handed down in December 2010 after it was ruled that his work posed a national security risk.
The work ban applies to writing scripts, making films, travelling abroad and granting interviews to local and foreign media.
Panahi's lawyer, Farideh Gheyrat, had hoped that she could convince the appeals court to overturn what she called a "very hefty verdict" imposed by a tribunal adjudicating national security offences.
Panahi was arrested in March 2010 for planning to make the film Farda (Tomorrow). Officials granted him a reprieve two months later after the filmmaker paid a 200,000-dollar bail bond and went on hunger strike.
In 2006, Panahi won a Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival for Offside, a film about Iranian girls who disguised themselves as boys so that they could watch Iran's football team play in a World Cup qualification match.
His scheduled appearance at the Berlin and Cannes film festivals were cancelled after Iranian authorities denied his exit visa request.
Panahi and other Iranian filmmakers supported the opposition Green Movement, led by Mir-Hossein Moussavi, before and after the June presidential election that saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accede to a second term.
Panahi was among those who accused the government of electoral fraud and refused to acknowledge the president's re-election.