Iranian director Saeed Roustaee has been jailed following a screening at Cannes.
Roustaee premiered a movie named Leila’s Brothers at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022. He was reportedly sentenced to six months in prison by an Iranian court, along with producer Javad Noruzbegi. Iranian media says the pair was convicted of “contributing to propaganda of the opposition against the Islamic system.”
The movie surrounds economic issues faced by a family in Tehran. Roustaee premiered the film without government permission. The filmmakers will only serve a twentieth of their jail sentence. However, the director is not allowed to work for five years.
Leila’s Brothers was in competition for the Palme d’Or, the top prize at Cannes, and won the event’s International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci) award.
Cannes organizers said the ban “constitutes once again a serious violation of free speech for Iranian artists, film-makers, producers and technicians. The Cannes Festival expresses its support to all those who suffer violence and reprisals for creating and distributing their works. The Festival is their home.”
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