Tehran, Feb. 1 -- The Iranian authorities imposed a travel ban on the well-known filmmaker Masoud Kimiai, after he expressed his support for the protests that have been sweeping the Islamic Republic for months.

The Independent Filmmakers Association of Iran announced that Masoud Kimiai was planning to leave Iran on Sunday evening to attend the Rotterdam film festival in the Netherlands, but the security officials prevented him from leaving Iran.

The filmmaker was due to travel to the Netherlands to screen his latest film, "Killing a Traitor", a historical melodrama set in Iran in the 1950s.

Since beginning of nationwide protests in Iran from September 2022, the government of Islamic Republic has banned many actors and people involved i...