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.

[4][5] His works primarily focus on issues of social injustice, as well as his portrayals of women in Iranian society.

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".

[6] 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.