'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' director Mohammad Rasoulof on transforming difficulties into beauty

A true standout in cinema this year was The Seed of the Sacred Fig by dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof.  

The film, set against the backdrop of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests of 2022, casts a critical eye on the consequences of life under authoritarian rule – much like his previous films Manuscripts Don’t Burn, A Man Of Integrity, and the Golden Bear-winning There Is No Evil.  

It had its world premiere in Cannes, where it won the Special Jury Prize as well as the Fipresci award.  

Beyond these accolades, the story of how he got to Cannes was the news that dominated headlines this year.

Days after finishing his film, shot in secret, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Court announced he was sentenced to eight years in prison and a flogging over charges linked to his earlier films and activism. His public statements, films and documentaries are considered “examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country’s security” by the judicial system of the Islamic Republic, whose repression and brutality has reached new heights when it comes to all artists.

Rasoulof had been in the crosshairs of the Iranian government before, having been banned from leaving Iran since 2017. He served four stints in prison, the most recent from July 2022 to February 2023 in Evin Prison, for speaking out against the government and in support of other arrested filmmakers. He was released due to general amnesty for thousands of prisoners in Iran following widespread protests.

His latest sentencing was the harshest in a series of arrests over the past decade – with no possibility of appeal.

Faced with this sentence, Rasoulof decided to flee his country, trekking for a perilous 28-days across a mountainous borderland