Woman and Child

Woman and Child (Persian: زن و بچه, romanized: Zan Va Bache) is an upcoming Iranian drama film written and directed by Saeed Roustayi, starring Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi, Hasan Pourshirazi, Fereshteh Sadre Orafaee and Sahar Goldoost.^[1][2][3]

Woman and Child
Directed by	Saeed Roustayi
Written by	Saeed Roustayi
Produced by	Jamal Sadatian
Starring	Parinaz Izadyar Payman Maadi Hasan Pourshirazi Fereshteh Sadre Orafaee Sahar Goldoost
Cinematography	Adib Sobhani
Edited by	Bahram Dehghani
Music by	Ramin Kousha
Release date	22 May 2025 (2025-05-22) (Cannes)
Running time	131 minutes
Countries	Iran France
Language	Persian

The film will have its world premiere at the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on 22 May, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or.^[4][5]

Synopsis

The film follows a 45-year-old widowed nurse named Mahnaz who is raising her children alone and struggling with her rebellious son. As she prepares to marry her fiancé, Hamid, her son Aliyar is expelled from school. When a tragic accident turns everything upside down, Mahnaz sets out to seek justice and reparation.

Cast

• Parinaz Izadyar as Mahnaz^[6]
• Payman Maadi as Hamid
• Soha Niasti as Mehri
• Maziar Seyyedi as Samkhanian
• Fereshteh Sadre Orafaee as Mother
• Hasan Pourshirazi as Grandfather
• Sinan Mohebi as Aliyar
• Arshida Dorostkar as Neda
• Sahar Goldoost
• Arshida Dorostkar
• Javad Pourheidari
• Mansour Nasiri
• Sinan Mohebi
• Rozhin Shams

Production

Director and writer, Saeed Roustayi

On 28 August 2024, it was announced that Saeed Roustayi's latest film, "Woman and Child," was in pre-production. On 1 September, Roustayi announced by posting a video on his Instagram page that he had written the script for his new film, "Woman and Child." On 24 November, the Iranian Organization of cinema issued a production license for the film.^[7] The movie will move to a different space from Saeed Roustaei's previous works, and is his fourth film after Leila's Brothers (2022), which had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

Filming began in December with Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi, Fereshteh Sadre Orafaee and Hasan Pourshirazi announced as the main actors.^[8][9] Roustayi announced on his Instagram page on 20 March 2025 that the production of the film had been completed.^[10] Bahram Dehghani was announced as the film editor, post-production work on the film was being carried out intensively aiming a Cannes premiere.^[11]

Release

On 10 April, the list of films in the official selection of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival was announced, and the film was not selected.^[12] On 23 April, alongside Die, My Love, the film was officially added to the festival's main competition for the Palme d'Or, marking Roustayi second film in the festival. It is set to have its world premiere in Cannes on 22 May 2025.^[13]