Ahangarani was arrested on 27 July 2009 in the wake of the turmoil after the 2009 presidential election, allegedly for her work in support of opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. She was later released but arrested again on 10 July 2011 prior to her planned trip to Germany to report on the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the Persian service of the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
She was released from Evin Prison two weeks later on the equivalent of $84,000 bail after expressions of “outrage among foreign governments and human rights organizations”. She has directed 7 documentaries and acted in more than 40 feature films. Her movies (where she starred or directed) have been shown in many festivals, including Berlinale, Toronto International Film Festival, Venice Film Festival.
