An Iranian film has won the Berlin International Film Festival’s top prize, the Golden Bear for Best Film.

The film’s director, Mohammad Rasoulof, could not attend the ceremony due to a travel ban placed on him by Iran.

The film “There is no Evil” shows four interconnected stories that ask to what extent there is individual freedom under an autocratic regime.

“The question the film asks is: When you live in a dictatorship society and you are forced to make a decision, how far do you accept responsibility for your decision?,” Rasoulof told Euronews.

“Or do you reject this responsibility knowing that it’s the authoritarian structure of the country which pushes you towards this decision?”

Rasoulof was sentenced to a year in prison and faces a two-year travel ban, but is not discouraged by the sentence which prevented him from attending the festival.

He is already working on new film projects, he said.

“They have no right to deprive me of creating art or to cause situations which prevents me from doing so I will do my best to enjoy my human rights, I have already done so far and I will continue to do so,” the director said.

His last film “A Man of Integrity” won the top prize in the Cannes Film Festival’s “Un Certain Regard” section in 2017. The film looked at corruption and injustice in Iran.