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June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Oscar-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis and human-rights activist Trudie Styler delivered petitions this morning to the Iranian Mission to the United Nations, demanding freedom for acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi and his artistic collaborator, Mohammad Rasoulof.

They are both under house arrest while appealing six-year prison sentences for making "propaganda against the state." They're also banned from making films in Iran for 20 years.

The petitions contained about 21,000 signatures, including those of Martin Scorsese, Mia Farrow, Susan Sarandon, Patrick Stewart and Harvey Weinstein.

The rally, organized by the human-rights organization Amnesty International, drew a small crowd of mainly reporters and photographers to the Iranian Mission in Manhattan. The protest grew contentious at one point as security personnel from the building tried to clear the lobby and summoned police.

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