Iranian Cinema Screenwriters Society has stopped all its activities in protest to the government’s policy of denying people’s demands for change.

In a statement published on Sunday the group said under the current conditions, its members are free to write and produce, or stop their professional activities; but the society, based on its social and professional duty, will cease any communication with government institutions at any level.”

“We deeply understand that in this new era, we are no longer the voice of the people, but it is the people who speak as the strongest social institution, and we have heard them,” added the Board of Directors in the statement.

Within the past 12 weeks of nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, several well-known figures from Iranian cinema have expressed solidarity with the protest movement.

Earlier, a member of a committee that follows up with the situation of detained artists said at least 40 filmmakers have been arrested during the national uprising against the Islamic Republic.

In an interview with Shargh daily on Saturday, Mehdi Kouhian said around 150 cinema figures have been summoned, arrested, accused, banned from leaving the country or persecuted in various ways during the recent protests.

He added that most of the detainees are "lesser-known figures whose families have not announced their names yet.”