An Iranian-Canadian director claims that Iranian authorities blocked him from leaving the country, thus he was unable to attend a film festival in London on Friday.

Mani Haghighi claimed in an Instagram video that he was prevented from boarding his flight in Tehran by Iranian authorities, who also took his passport. As a result, he was unable to attend a screening of his movie at the London Film Festival.

Haghighi was scheduled to attend the festival with his movie “Subtraction,” which made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, according to a statement from the British Film Institute.

Haghighi told Variety that maintaining his Iranian-Canadian identity was crucial to him while promoting the movie.

The director claimed in his video message that the authorities had not provided him with a plausible justification for the confiscation.

Haghighi had posted a video two weeks prior condemning Iran’s mandatory hijab law and the repression of young protestors.