Iranian filmmaker Saeed Roustaee used the Cannes spotlight last week to warn that he may face renewed reprisals at home after screening his new drama “Woman and Child,” even though the production was vetted by Tehran’s culture ministry and keeps all female characters in hijab.
At a Cannes press conference on 22 May, Roustaee said, “The last time I went back, my passport was confiscated. I hope I’ll be able to go back safely,” referencing a six-month suspended sentence handed down by a Tehran revolutionary court in August 2023 for screening “Leila’s Brothers” without state approval, an offence that also imposed a five-year filmmaking ban.
The new film, starring Parinaz Izadyar and Payman Maadi, follows a widowed nurse whose remarriage triggers a family tragedy; it is one of 22 titles in this year’s Palme d’Or race and one of two Iranian works, the other being Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident.”
Although “Woman and Child” secured an official production licence in November 2024 and was edited to ensure domestic release, Roustaee acknowledged that “every Iranian filmmaker self-censors in order to stay visible at home,” a claim echoed by fellow directors including Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, who have both faced travel bans and jail terms in recent years.
Festival observers noted the political undercurrent: Screen Daily’s jury grid recorded keen interest in Roustaee’s entry, while French outlets such as Le Monde highlighted the director’s measured defiance amid Iran’s post-2022 protest climate.
Cannes organisers have not commented on Roustaee’s legal status, but international advocacy groups continue to urge Iran to lift restrictions on artists; Martin Scorsese publicly backed the director when his sentence was announced, calling for “justice for storytellers everywhere.”