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Iranian filmmaker Roustayi given six-month sentence

15 August 2023 11:56 (UTC +04:00)

Iranian film director Saeed Roustayi has been sentenced to 6 months in prison on the charges of “propaganda against the government” and production and screening of the controversial movie Leila’s Brothers at the Cannes Film Festival, APA reports citing IFP news.

According to the verdict issued by the court, Roustayi is banned from all cinematic activities during the six-month sentence and has to take courses on “filmmaking while preserving national and moral interests.”

Roustayi’s Leila’s Brothers failed to get a permit for screening in Iran for its caustic criticism of Iranian society and family reeling from economic sanctions.

While the movie was screened in international festivals, including Cannes and Munich, and won international accolades, it drew the wrath of some critics and officials in Iran for ‘insulting’ Iranian families and presenting a ‘spiteful and ugly’ image of traditions.