Iranian actor Laleh Marzban has come under severe attack from her country's authorities and state media after she highlighted the plight of women in Iran in her acceptance speech at the Venice film festival.

Marzban won the best actress award last Saturday in the Orizzonti sidebar competition, the Venice section devoted to emerging talent. She received the prize for her performance in Mohsen Gharaei's Falling House, a film that revolves around three generations of women incarcerated in their own home by the family's father.

The subject of that film — domestic confinement — now shadows the actor's own circumstances. In her acceptance speech, Marzban dedicated the award to "the women of Iran." That dedication, delivered on one of international cinema's most visible stages, triggered condemnations from Iranian authorities and a campaign of attacks in state media, according to reports on her case.

The confrontation between Marzban and Iran's official apparatus follows a pattern familiar from previous editions of international festivals. When Iranian artists use foreign platforms to address conditions inside the country, state institutions and allied media have responded with denunciations, legal threats and travel restrictions. Marzban's case shows the mechanism activating once again, this time against an actor at the very start of her international career.

The role that brought her to Venice was, by the film's own account, a study in captivity. Falling House, directed by Mohsen Gharaei, places its three generations of women inside a single home ruled by the father, and Marzban's award-winning portrayal centres on a woman held hostage by him. Critics covering the film at the festival treated it as one of the standout Iranian entries of the year.

The Orizzonti competition, where Marzban took her prize, exists specifically to spotlight new voices. Her victory there marked her as a newcomer of international note — the best actress laureate in a lineup dedicated to emerging talent. That distinction now carries a heavier weight.

By dedicating the award to "the women of Iran," Marzban turned a ceremony honouring a fictional portrait of confinement into a statement about the real conditions facing women in her country. The response from authorities and state media, described in reports of severe attacks, suggests the speech will have consequences for her ability to work and travel at home.

The case will test how far festival recognition can shield a performer from state pressure. For now, Marzban joins the ranks of Iranian artists whose words abroad have made them targets at home — and whose next moves, professional and personal, will be watched from both sides of that divide.