# Saeed Roustayi

Saeed Roustaee (Persian: سعید روستایی, born August 14, 1989), also spelled Saeed Roustayi, is an Iranian director, screenwriter and producer. He has won the Crystal Simorgh for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best First Director at the 34th Fajr Film Festival for his feature directorial debut drama film Life and a Day (2016). In 2022, his second film, Just 6.5 (2019), was nominated for the César Award for Best Foreign Film. In April 2022, his third film, Leila's Brothers (2022), was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

## Early life

He graduated from Soore University with a Bachelor of Film and Television in Directing.

## Career

Life and a Day is his first major cinematic work. At the Fajr International Film Festival, Roustayi won 2 Crystal Simorghs for best directing and best screenplay. He received the 2016 Reflet d'Or for Best Feature at the Geneva International Film Festival Tous Ecrans.
His works primarily focus on issues of social injustice, as well as his portrayals of women in Iranian society.
His third feature film Leila's Brothers competed in the 2022 Cannes Film Festival where it won the FIPRESCI Prize for films screened in the main competition section.

## Conviction

In August 2023, the Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced Roustayi to six months in prison for entering Leila's Brothers in the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, claiming that the film participated in "the opposition’s propaganda against the Islamic system". Roustayi alleged that Iran's Ministry of Culture had requested a series of scene changes to Leila's Brothers which he had refused to implement. Roustayi is due to serve nine days of his sentence and a suspended period of five years, as well as participating in other punitive measures such as completing a course on "creating movies aligned with national interests and national morality".

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 2011 | Saturday | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2012 | Ceremony | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2014 | The Very Uncrowded Street | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film |
| 2016 | Life and a Day | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2017 | Blockage | No | Yes | No | |
| 2019 | Just 6.5 | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2022 | Leila's Brothers | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| TBA | The Woman and the Child | Yes | Yes | TBA | Filming |

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Year | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2022 | Palm d'Or | Leila's Brothers | Nominated |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2022 | FIPRESCI Prize | Leila's Brothers | Won |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2022 | Citizenship Prize | Leila's Brothers | Won |
| Chicago International Film Festival | 2019 | Best New Director | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| César Awards | 2022 | Best Foreign Film | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| Entrevues Film Festival | 2020 | Grand Prix | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2016 | Best Director | Life and a Day | Won |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2016 | Best Screenplay | Life and a Day | Won |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2016 | Best First Director | Life and a Day | Won |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2019 | Best Director | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2019 | Best Screenplay | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| FEST International Film Festival | 2020 | Best Film | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2016 | Best Director | Life and a Day | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2016 | Best Screenplay | Life and a Day | Won |
| Hafez Awards | 2019 | Best Director | Just 6.5 | Won |
| Hafez Awards | 2019 | Best Screenplay | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2016 | Best Director | Life and a Day | Won |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2016 | Best Screenplay | Life and a Day | Won |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2019 | Best Director | Just 6.5 | Won |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2019 | Best Screenplay | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2016 | Best Director | Life and a Day | Won |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2016 | Best Screenplay | Life and a Day | Won |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2020 | Best Director | Just 6.5 | Third Place |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2020 | Best Screenplay | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| Munich International Film Festival | 2022 | Best International Film | Leila's Brothers | Nominated |
| Nahal Short Film Festival | 2013 | Best Fiction Short Feature | Ceremony | Won |
| Tokyo International Film Festival | 2019 | Best Director | Just 6.5 | Won |
| Tokyo International Film Festival | 2019 | Grand Prix | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| Venice International Film Festival | 2019 | Best Feature Film – Horizons | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| Zurich Film Festival | 2019 | Best International Feature Film | Just 6.5 | Nominated |
| Zurich Film Festival | 2019 | Special Mention – International Feature Film | Just 6.5 | Won |