Martin Scorsese has shown his support for an Iranian director who got in trouble for showing a film at the Cannes Film Festival without permission from the government. The director, Saeed Roustaee, premiered his movie “Leila’s Brothers” at the festival in France in 2022. However, an Iranian court sentenced him to six months in jail. The festival organizers said this was a serious violation of freedom of speech.
Scorsese shared a petition that asks for fairness for Roustaee and the film’s producer, Javad Noruzbegi. In Iran, the media says that both of them were found guilty of promoting ideas against the Islamic system. The film is about a family in Tehran dealing with money problems. It was already banned in Iran because it was shown at international film festivals without the government’s permission. The director didn’t make the changes that the culture ministry asked for, which is why it got in trouble.
The filmmakers will only spend around nine days in jail, which is one twentieth of their sentence. The rest of the sentence will be put on hold for five years, during which they must attend a film-making course and avoid interacting with other film professionals. The 34-year-old director is also not allowed to work for five years.
The movie “Leila’s Brothers” was a contender for the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival called the Palme d’Or, and it also won another award from film critics. The organizers of the Cannes Festival stated that this restriction on the filmmakers is another example of limiting free speech for Iranian artists, filmmakers, and others involved in the film industry. They expressed their support for those facing consequences for creating and sharing their artistic works.
