Organisers of the Cannes Film Festival have denounced "a serious violation of free speech" after the Iranian director Saeed Roustayi was sentenced to prison for showing a film at the competition.
An Iranian court sentenced Roustayi, 34, to six months in prison for the screening of his film Leila's Brothers at the Cannes festival in 2022, local media reported on Tuesday.
The film, which recounts the economic struggles of a family in Tehran, has been banned in Iran since its release last year.
Roustayi's sentencing, which includes a ban on working for five years, "constitutes once again a serious violation of free speech for Iranian artists, film-makers, producers and technicians," Cannes organisers said in a statement to AFP.
"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," it said.
Leila's Brothers was in competition for the Palme d'Or at last year's Cannes festival. It missed the top prize but won the International Federation of Film Critics' (FIPRESCI) award.
The film was banned after it "broke the rules by being entered at international film festivals without authorisation", and the director refused to "correct" it as requested by the culture ministry, official media said at the time.
On Tuesday, the reformist daily Etemad said that Roustayi, along with the movie's producer Javad Noruzbegi, "were sentenced to six months in prison for screening the movie at Cannes Film Festival".
Roustayi and Noruzbegi were found guilty of "contributing to propaganda of the opposition against the Islamic system".
The film-makers will only serve one-twentieth of their sentence, about nine days, while the remainder "will be suspended over five years," according to Etemad, which added the verdict can be appealed.
During the suspension period, the defendants will be required to take a film-making course while "preserving national and ethical interests" and refrain from associating with other cinema professionals, the newspaper said.
Earlier this year, Roustayi's 2019 film Law of Tehran received widespread acclaim when it was released on home cinema in Ireland and the UK.
Source: AFP
