‘Woman And Child' Director Saeed Roustaee Hints At Fears Of Arrest In Iran Over Cannes Film: 'I Hope I'll Be Able To Go Back Safely'
Saeed Roustaee has revealed that he wonders whether he will be arrested on his return to his native Iran following the premiere of his female-focused drama Mother and Child in Competition in Cannes this week.
'The last time I went back, my passport was confiscated. I hope I'll be able to go back safely. I don't know whether I'll be arrested but I certainly hope not,' the Iranian director told the press conference for the film on Friday.
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Roustaee fell foul of Iran's Islamic Regime authorities in 2023, after he screened his last film Leila's Brothers in Cannes without their permission. As well as being slapped with a travel ban, he was sentenced to six-month prison sentence and a five-year shooting ban, which were commuted on appeal.
Roustaee has returned to the festival with the legal permits in place, and a film shot in adherence with the regime's stipulation that women must appear on screen with a hijab head covering, regardless of whether the scene is in a public place or private setting.
This move has drawn criticism from parts of the Iranian filmmaking community in the light of the Women Life Freedom movement calling for democracy for women in Iran, and Roustaee faced tough questions at the press conference, with one journalist asking him if he was self-censoring.
Roustaee replied his storytelling followed in a tradition of other Iranian directors who have sought to make social films over the last 45 years, implying since the event of the Islamic Republic in 1979.
'I don't know, whether I am self-censoring myself. I'm 35 years old. I've lived in Iran for 35 years. I'm familiar with Iranian cinema and I'm a result of this social cinema that we've had for the last 45 years. I'm following in the footsteps of other Iranian film makers. This is a tradition I've inherited,' he said.
'I don't know to what extent I indulge in self-censorship, but I do make my films in Iran, and I would like Iranians to be able to go to see my movies in a movie theaters in Iran. So, no doubt I'm careful about certain things to ensure that my film will be released.'
Quizzed about the harsh vision of Iranian society that his film depicts, with a glimmer of hope at the end, Roustaee said: ' If my films are bitter, that reflects Iranian society, if Iranian society was very well and happy, then I would make a portrait of that society.'
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