The word “brave” gets thrown around too casually, especially when talking about directors who might take on a challenging project. Those filmmakers have got nothing on Mohammad Rasoulof, who has used his work to protest the Iranian government, repeatedly violating their censorship regulations in the process. With his latest film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Rasoulof and his crew shot it in secret, and were later interrogated and banned from leaving the country to attend the film’s world premiere at Cannes. After being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging, Rasoulof escaped Iran to Europe, the film smuggled out of the country and to Cannes where it premiered on May 24th, winning multiple awards. Now that is bravery.
Rasoulof’s award-winning film “centers on a family thrust into the public eye when Iman (Misagh Zare) is appointed as an investigating judge in Tehran. As political unrest erupts in the streets, Iman realizes that his job is even more dangerous than expected, making him increasingly paranoid and distrustful, even of his own wife Najmeh and daughters Sana and Rezvan.”
The film focuses on the protests surrounding the mysterious death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. Rasoulof has directed ten features and has been arrested multiple times for his work attacking Iran’s abusive government.
Soheila Golestani, Mahsa Rostami, Setareh Maleki, Niousha Akhshi, Reza Akhlaghi, Shiva Ordooei, and Amineh Arani lead the cast.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig will play here in the DMV at the Middleburg Film Festival later this month. You can find out more about it here. It will then open in theaters on November 27th courtesy of NEON.
