Iranian Director Saeed Roustaee's ‘Woman And Child' Gets 10-Minute Ovation In Cannes Debut
Roustaee and star Parinaz Izadyar were among those in attendance for the premiere.
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'Woman And Child' Review: Iran's Saeed Roustaee Delivers A Fiery Feminist Portrait Of A Woman Who Refuses To Be Pushed Aside – Cannes Film Festival
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A 10 minute standing ovation for Iranian director Saeed Roustayee's 'Woman and Child' starring Parinaz Izadyar | #Cannes2025 pic.twitter.com/OInN67B9mv
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) May 22, 2025
The story follows Mahnaz (Parinaz Izadyar), a 40-year-old widowed nurse who is about to re-marry; she is also struggling with her rebellious son, Aliyar (Sinan Mohebi), who has been suspended from school. Family tensions reach a peak during a betrothal ceremony with her intended Hamid (Payman Maadi), and a tragic accident occurs. In the aftermath, Mahnaz will be forced to confront betrayal and loss, and to embark on a quest for justice.
Roustaee has previously said that Mahnaz's character 'screamed in his mind' and told the festival, 'The film tells the story of a woman fighting all the men who made her live in a patriarchal society that deprived her of all her rights, including that of a mother.'
Roustaee, who also wrote the screenplay for Woman and Child, was last in the Cannes Film Festival Competition with Leila's Brothers in 2022.
That film resulted in a six-month prison sentence and a five-year filming ban for Roustaee as imposed by the Islamic regime. The star of that movie, Taraneh Alidoosti, was sentenced to five years in prison after publishing a photo of herself without her hijab. In both cases, the sentences were eventually lifted.
According to the Cannes festival, for Woman and Child, Roustaee complied with certain restrictions, but maintains that he has not made a propaganda film, rather a film about social resistance.
Woman and Child is released in France via Diaphana; sales are with Goodfellas.
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