Leila’s Brothers director: Movies shows how Iranians suffered under sanctions

Iranian director Saeed Roustaei who is in Munich for a screening of his Leila’s Brothers feature film says his film shows how Iranian people paid the price of the sanctions imposed on the country.

“A large part of my film deals with sanctions. One can as well make a series about the sanctions and what happened in Iran. Because the west had problems with the government officials of Iran, but only people paid the price,” Roustaei said in an interview on the sidelines of the Munich Film Festival.

The young director’s latest movie is being screened in Munich after it attracted attentions in Cannes.

The movie, however, has been detained in Iran after the Cinema Organization said Roustaei has failed to secure the needed permits before taking it to Cannes.

The organization said the director had failed to make the mandated changes to the film before its screening.

Leila’s Brothers is Roustaei’s third work and won International Critics’ Prize for best film in Cannes main competition section.