Germany’s International Feature submission ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ gets powerful trailer [Watch]
If measured by real-world implications, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” might be the most important film of the year. On Monday, Neon released the trailer for Iranian writer-director Mohammad Rasoulof’s political thriller, which is Germany’s submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature because Rasoulof has fled political persecution in his native country.
Rasoulof is one of Iran’s most acclaimed filmmakers; his 2020 film “There Is No Evil” won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. His outspoken criticism of the Iranian government has led to him serving multiple prison terms. Before “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” premiered at Cannes this year, the Islamic Republic sentenced Rasoulof to eight years in prison, flogging, a fine, and confiscation of his property for protesting the regime, which he does through his films as well as public statements. After that, he fled Iran and made it to Germany, where is now living in exile. He walked the red carpet at Cannes carrying photos of the film’s stars Soheila Golestani and Missagh Zareh, who were unable to leave Iran.
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Rasoulof discussed the government’s targeting of him and his films in an interview with The Guardian during Cannes. “Like any other dictatorship or totalitarian system, they want absolute control over images they don’t like that confront the reality of their own being and their own system,” he said. “They’re just trying to scare everyone and to push everyone out of any attempt to make films or express themselves or use their freedom just because of this illusion of control. And so my message to my peers, to other film-makers, is: there are ways.”
The film is set during the 2022-23 protests in Iran, which were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who was reportedly beaten to death by morality police officers after she was arrested for improperly wearing her hijab. The film uses real footage of the protests. Here’s Neon’s official description: “Shot entirely in secret, Mohammad Rasoulof’s award-winning thriller, ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig,’ centers on a family thrust into the public eye when Iman is appointed as an investigating judge in Tehran. As political unrest erupts in the streets, Iman (Zareh) realizes that his job is even more dangerous than expected, making him increasingly paranoid and distrustful, even of his own wife Najmeh (Golestani) and daughters Sana (Setareh Maleki) and Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami).”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” competed for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, and won several other awards at the festival: a Special Jury Prize, the FIPRESCI Prize, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, the Fran?ois Chalais Prize, and the Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai. It premiered in the U.S. at the Telluride Film Festival and also screened at TIFF, NYFF, San Sebastian, and other major film festivals.
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” opens in limited release on Nov. 27.
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