Iran: director Saeed Roustaee sentenced to prison for screening his film in Cannes

The Iranian judiciary has sentenced the famous director Saeed Roustaee to six months in prison for the screening of his film Leila and her brothers at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, announced Tuesday, August 15, an Iranian media.

Saeed Roustaee, at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. © Siegfried Forster / RFI

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With our correspondent in Tehran, Siavosh Ghazi

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Tehran's Revolutionary Court sentenced Saeed Roustaee and Javad Norouzbeigui, the film's director and producer, to six months in prison for contributing to opposition propaganda against Islamic rule. in Iran.

Feature film, Leila and her brothers portray a poor family on the verge of implosion, in an Iran plunged into a deep economic crisis. It has been banned in Iran since its release last year, for "breaking the rules" by participating in the Cannes and Munich film festivals without permission.

" READ ALSO "Leila and her brothers" of Saeed Roustaee, vibrant tribute to Iranian women

However, the court decided that the two filmmakers would serve only nine days in jail. The remainder of the sentence is suspended for five years. The two filmmakers are also required to refrain from activities related to the crime committed and not to communicate with persons "active in the field of cinema". This sentence is a new turn of the screw against the artists who had taken a stand in favor of the protest movement after the death of Mahsa Amini, eleven months ago, during his detention by the morality police. See alsoCannes 2022: "Lift" interview with Iranian Saeed Roustaee on "Leila's Brothers"

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