Mohammad Rasoulof to Attend 2025 G?teborg Film Festival With ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig,’ Germany’s Shortlisted 2025 Oscar Submission (EXCLUSIVE)
Acclaimed Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof will attend the upcoming 2025 G?teborg Film Festival with his latest film, family drama and political thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Germany’s submission to this year’s international feature Oscar race which made the Oscar shortlist on Dec. 17.
Variety rates the film, which he also wrote and co-produced, as one of the five frontrunners in the international feature category to score an Oscar nomination on Jan. 17.
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“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” has also scored Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations for foreign-language film, and won the National Board of Review’s best international film award.
Banned in Rasoulof’s home country, the film has already garnered international recognition for its poignant narrative and exploration of political themes. Rasoulof, who currently lives in exile in Germany after being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging by the Iranian regime as he wrapped “Sacred Fig,” continues to create work that critiques the country’s oppressive government.
Rasoulof’s career has been marked by his unflinching focus on the social and political struggles within Iran. His films have often explored themes of power, submission, and the dynamics of oppression and civil disobedience.
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” continues that mission, telling the fictional story of Iman, a regime-loyal investigating judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court whose life unravels following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in police custody after being arrested for “improper” hijab-wearing.
Amini’s death sparks widespread protests across Iran, and the film mixes in archival footage of them as it portrays the subsequent emotional and ideological turmoil that affects Iman and his family. As tensions rise both at home and in his professional life, the disappearance of a gun becomes a pivotal moment in the story upping the ante on the film’s tension as Iman’s mistrust and paranoia, even of his own family, builds.
World premiering at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, with Rasoulof miraculously in attendance, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” won a jury created Special Jury Prize, having gleaned the best reviews of any film in competition according to one poll. Variety called it “masterful” and a “thinking person’s thriller.”
Rasoulof’s previous work includes standout titles such as “The White Meadows” (2009) and “A Man of Integrity” (2017), which have earned him recognition on the global stage. Despite the threats and persecution he faces in Iran, the director’s films remain uncompromising, highlighting the power of art in the face of authoritarianism. He is currently developing an animated faeture about the Iranian revolution.
“It is an honor to welcome Mohammad Rasoulof to the G?teborg Film Festival as the main guest in our Focus: Disobedience,” said Pia Lundberg, Artistic Director of the G?teborg Film Festival of today’s announcement. “His courage and uncompromising work as a filmmaker, now in exile, remind us of the power of art to challenge authority and shed light on injustice. Rasoulof’s films, created under extreme conditions, are not only artistic masterpieces but acts of civil disobedience that inspire us all to stand up for freedom and human rights.”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” will be the centerpiece of the festival’s Focus: Disobedience program, screening on Jan. 30. It will be followed by a Q&A with Rasoulof. In addition to his own film, Rasoulof is also credited as the screenwriter for “Seven Days” by Ali Samadi Ahadi, another film featured at this year’s festival.
Rasoulof’s film opens in Swedish cinemas on March 7, distributed by Triart Film. The G?teborg Film Festival runs Jan. 25 to Feb. 2, 2025.
John Hopewell contributed to this article.
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