Oscar winners cut off their hair in support of protesters in Iran

AP Reporters

Oscar-winning actresses Marion Cotillard and Juliette Binoche and other stars including the UK’s Charlotte Rampling, Charlotte Gainsbourg and singer Jane Birkin have filmed themselves cutting off locks of their hair in support of protesters in Iran.

Their video, released on Instagram and hash-tagged HairForFreedom, comes as Iran is engulfed by anti-government protests following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.

Protests in Iran and other countries including Turkey, Lebanon and France have seen women cutting off their hair in a show of solidarity.

Binoche said: “For freedom” in the video, as she hacked off a large handful of her hair.

Dozens of women famous in France and across the wider world took part.

Gainsbourg was filmed cutting the hair of her mother, Birkin.

The video appeared on an Instagram account, “soutienfemmesiran”, which translates as “support women in Iran”.

A post on the video read: “These women, these men are asking for our support. Their courage and their dignity obliges us.

“We have decided to respond to the appeal made to us by cutting – us too – some of these locks.”