It is “a serious attack on freedom of expression”, estimated the Cannes Film Festival after the sentencing in Iran of filmmaker Saeed Roustaee and his producer to six months in prison for the screening of one of their films on the Croisette. Leila and her brothers had been presented in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, then banned from broadcasting in Iran.
The conviction of Saeed Roustaee, 34, and his producer Javad Norouzbeigui, which is accompanied by a five-year work ban, “constitutes, once again, a serious attack on the freedom of expression of artists, filmmakers , Iranian producers and technicians,” denounced the Festival in a statement sent to AFP.
“Like many professionals around the world, the Cannes Film Festival expresses its support for all those who suffer violence and reprisals in the production and distribution of their works. The Festival is their home. He is and will always be at their side to defend the freedom of creation and expression,” he adds.
The film banned in Iran
The Reform Daily Etemad reported on Tuesday the conviction of Saeed Roustaee by a court in Tehran for having “contributed to the propaganda of the opposition against the Islamic system” in Iran. Leila and her brotherswhich paints the portrait of a poor family on the verge of implosion in an Iran plunged into a deep economic crisis, had been banned in the country for having, according to the authorities, “breaking the rules by participating without authorization (…) in Cannes and then in Munich”.
According to Etemadthe court ruled that the two filmmakers would only serve one-twentieth of the sentence, or about nine days, while the rest “will be suspended for five years”, during which time they cannot work.
Several voices have been raised in the world of cinema to denounce this conviction, including that of the Society of Film Directors and Directors (SRF) or that of the Biarritz Film Festival, of which Saeed Roustaee has just chaired the jury for the first edition. .