Baktash Abtin (born Mehdi Kazemi; December 15, 1974 – January 8, 2022) was an Iranian poet, filmmaker, and member of the Iranian Writers’ Association. He began writing poetry in the early 1990s and soon turned to documentary filmmaking with a critical, socially engaged focus. Joining the Association in 2010, he faced repeated harassment, arrests, and sentences for his art and activism. In 2019, he was sentenced to six years in prison for “propaganda against the system” and “collusion against national security.” While imprisoned, he contracted COVID-19 for the second time and died on January 8, 2022, due to deliberate medical neglect. He left behind seven books of poetry and 18 documentary films.
Iran