The road to make and release “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” was not always a smooth one for writer/director Mohammad Rasoulof, but in the end, thanks to Germany and distributors around the world, it has become one of the most highly lauded films of the year. Winner of the National Board of Review’s 2024 Best International Film and Germany’s submission for the the 97th Academy Awards, Rasoulof’s political thriller continues to build on the momentum that started at its Cannes premiere, where it received the Special Award.
In a recently published interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rasoulof pointed to this attention on the film as a positive for not only himself and the conflicts he’s facing in self-exile from his home country of Iran, but others trying to make art under oppressive regimes.
“The bigger the film becomes, the more successful it becomes, the more it will protect me and the cast and crew, both inside and outside Iran,” Rasoulof said. “An even more important impact, I think, is that [the Oscar campaign] can shine a light and give hope to all filmmakers working under repressive circumstances around the globe. What really excites me about all this is the idea that the young generation in Iran can now feel even more empowered to break free of all the restrictions imposed upon it by the government.”
Before Rasoulof made the choice to flee Iran after receiving an eight year prison sentence with flogging and a fine, his life was lived and work made under a constant state of fear. He had already faced prison time and eventually resorted to making films in secret rather than give up his pursuits, but now that he’s left, he’s free to just create as he sees fit.
“It’s really a sort of dream come true,” said Rasoulof. “I’ve always been grappling on the one hand with cinema, and on the other hand with censorship, artistic freedom, and artistic expression. Because of my circumstances, I’ve always had to focus on the latter. Now I’m finally in circumstances where I can imagine I may be able to give myself entirely to cinema.”
In a separate interview with IndieWire’s Anne Thompson during the New York Film Festival, Rasoulof detailed how the nature of the story in “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” often proved a convenience for how the film had to be shot.
“We were lucky having a story about a family whose women were wearing the veil,” he said. “And the urban parts of the story allowed us to be on the streets without attracting too much attention. This was quite fortunate for us to be able to shoot outdoors, and we could continue working in the crowded parts of Tehran. We kept getting insulted by people who were passing by thinking we were working for the state media.”
Rasoulof’s film did make the Oscars shortlist and nominations will be announced Sunday, January 19.
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is currently in theaters from Neon.
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