“Happy” Director Released on Bail

Sasan Soleimani, the director of Iran’s “Happy” music video, was released earlier today, May 28.

Since last week’s release of the six people who appeared in the film, which showed them dancing and singing to Pharrell Williams’ song on Tehran rooftops, there has been little news about Solemani. Some reports say he suffered psychological torture and sleep deprivation during his time in prison. Until today, authorities refused to release him, despite the fact that he had paid the $20,000 bail set.

This is not the first time 31-year-old Soleimani has had a brush with authorities. In 2010, he was arrested and detained in Evin prison after more than two million people viewed another music video he directed, “Soosan Khanoom, ”on YouTube. He used the pseudonym Sol when working on the Iran “Happy” film, but authorities had no problem tracking him down.

During the 2013 presidential election, Soleimani, a graduate of Tehran’s School of Cinema, supported Hassan Rouhani, suggesting purple as a good color to promote his candidacy. For many, the arrest of the director and the six “Happy” artists has been seen as a direct attack against Rouhani’s policies—and a clear message to those who support them.

Prior to their release on May 21, prison authorities threatened and abused other members of the group. They were forced to confess on national television that they had been duped into making the video and were unaware it was going to be released for public consumption.