Filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof said his decision to flee Iran on foot this month was necessary with the release of his new film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” imminent, and he knew while making the movie that new charges would likely br brought against him.
“There was tremendous pressure on my shoulders. I kept thinking, well if I’m arrested while making the film, I’ll spend at least five years in prison. And then obviously, I knew this film would lead to other charges against me,” he told reporters during a press conference at Cannes on Saturday.
Because of that pressure, Rasoulof asked industry colleagues in other countries if they would carry on work on the film if he were arrested before he could leave. He made the decision to go after he learned that Iran’s secret police planned to target others who worked on the movie, too.
“There was tremendous pressure on my shoulders. I kept thinking, well if I’m arrested while making the film, I’ll spend at least five years in prison. And then obviously, I knew this film would lead to other charges against me,” he told reporters during a press conference at Cannes on Saturday.
Because of that pressure, Rasoulof asked industry colleagues in other countries if they would carry on work on the film if he were arrested before he could leave. He made the decision to go after he learned that Iran’s secret police planned to target others who worked on the movie, too.
- 5/25/2024
- by Stephanie Kaloi
- The Wrap
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, the new film from Iranian dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof, may or may not be honored tonight when the Cannes jury hands out its awards. But at the press conference for the film on Saturday, Rasoulof displayed his own heroism.
The director used his press conference to call out Iran’s authoritarian regime and to rally his fellow filmmakers to resist.
“My only message to Iranian cinema is don’t be afraid of intimidation and censorship in Iran,” said Rasoulof. “[The regime is] afraid. They’re afraid, and they want us to feel afraid; they want to discourage us. But don’t let yourself be intimidated … but don’t fear the authorities. You have to believe in your liberty. We have to fight for a dignified life.”
Rasoulof embodies this fight. The director fled Iran by foot a few weeks ago, escaping after the regime sentenced him to 8 years in prison.
The director used his press conference to call out Iran’s authoritarian regime and to rally his fellow filmmakers to resist.
“My only message to Iranian cinema is don’t be afraid of intimidation and censorship in Iran,” said Rasoulof. “[The regime is] afraid. They’re afraid, and they want us to feel afraid; they want to discourage us. But don’t let yourself be intimidated … but don’t fear the authorities. You have to believe in your liberty. We have to fight for a dignified life.”
Rasoulof embodies this fight. The director fled Iran by foot a few weeks ago, escaping after the regime sentenced him to 8 years in prison.
- 5/25/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mohammad Rasoulof reflected on his decision to flee Iran at the Cannes Film Festival press conference for his latest film, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” on Saturday.
Rasoulof received news of the charges against him in the final weeks of shooting, but decided to risk arrest and finish the film before leaving the country. “Obviously, there was tremendous pressure on my shoulders,” Rasoulof said of the decision. “I kept thinking, well if I’m arrested while making the film, I’ll spend at least five years in prison. And then obviously, I knew this film would lead to other charges against me.”
He said he “counted on the slow pace of the legal administration” in order to wrap the project, and contacted his colleagues abroad to make sure they could bring the film to the finish line in the event of his arrest. Then, he was made aware that...
Rasoulof received news of the charges against him in the final weeks of shooting, but decided to risk arrest and finish the film before leaving the country. “Obviously, there was tremendous pressure on my shoulders,” Rasoulof said of the decision. “I kept thinking, well if I’m arrested while making the film, I’ll spend at least five years in prison. And then obviously, I knew this film would lead to other charges against me.”
He said he “counted on the slow pace of the legal administration” in order to wrap the project, and contacted his colleagues abroad to make sure they could bring the film to the finish line in the event of his arrest. Then, he was made aware that...
- 5/25/2024
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Mohammad Rasoulof’s latest film that he received an eight-year prison sentence from Iranian authorities for making, earned a rapturous 12-minute standing ovation at its Cannes Film Festival premiere on Friday. Rasoulof risked his life by appearing at the premiere as he fled Iran for Europe on May 13 to avoid going to prison.
There was undeniable applause as the film’s credits began to roll (though it is Variety‘s policy to begin timing the standing ovation once the house lights come up), with Rasoulof getting teary and waving enthusiastically to the balcony. Ali Abbasi, the director of fellow competition title “The Apprentice,” stood next to Rasoulof and encouraged the crowd to keep clapping — not that they needed it, as their cheers just seemed to get louder and louder. There was even a sign in the audience reading “Femme! Vie! Liberté!” (“Woman! Life! Freedom!
There was undeniable applause as the film’s credits began to roll (though it is Variety‘s policy to begin timing the standing ovation once the house lights come up), with Rasoulof getting teary and waving enthusiastically to the balcony. Ali Abbasi, the director of fellow competition title “The Apprentice,” stood next to Rasoulof and encouraged the crowd to keep clapping — not that they needed it, as their cheers just seemed to get louder and louder. There was even a sign in the audience reading “Femme! Vie! Liberté!” (“Woman! Life! Freedom!
- 5/24/2024
- by Ramin Setoodeh and Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
The exiled director’s story of officialdom’s misogyny and theocracy in his home country may be flawed, but its importance is beyond doubt
Mohammad Rasoulof is a fugitive Iranian director and dissident wanted by the police in his own country, where he has received a long prison sentence and flogging. Now he has come to Cannes with a brazen and startling picture which, though flawed, does justice to the extraordinary and scarcely believable drama of his own situation and the agony of his homeland.
It’s a movie about Iranian officialdom’s misogyny and theocracy, and sets out to intuit and externalise the inner anguish and psychodrama of its dissenting citizens – in a country where women can be judicially bullied and beaten for refusing to wear the hijab.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig begins as a downbeat political and domestic drama in the familiar style of Iranian cinema,...
Mohammad Rasoulof is a fugitive Iranian director and dissident wanted by the police in his own country, where he has received a long prison sentence and flogging. Now he has come to Cannes with a brazen and startling picture which, though flawed, does justice to the extraordinary and scarcely believable drama of his own situation and the agony of his homeland.
It’s a movie about Iranian officialdom’s misogyny and theocracy, and sets out to intuit and externalise the inner anguish and psychodrama of its dissenting citizens – in a country where women can be judicially bullied and beaten for refusing to wear the hijab.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig begins as a downbeat political and domestic drama in the familiar style of Iranian cinema,...
- 5/24/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
A Man Of Integrity (Lerd) Big World Pictures Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net, linked from Rotten Tomatoes by Harvey Karten Director: Mohammad Rasoulof Screenwriter: Mohammad Rasoulof Cast: Reza Akhlaghirad, Soudabeh Beizaee, Nasim Adabi, Zeinab Shabani, Missagh Zareh, Zhila Shahi, Majid Potki Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 5/26/22 Opens: June 17, 2022 In the Middle East, […]
The post A Man Of Integrity Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post A Man Of Integrity Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 6/12/2022
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
It would be a mistake to take the synopsis for Abed Abest’s Killing the Eunuch Khan at face value. This is not a film about a serial killer in the generic sense of the word. Khan (Ebrahim Azizi) isn’t some cult leader à la Charles Manson sending his disciples into the world to murder people in his name. Nor is he a monster in the vein of Jigsaw, entrapping victims to do his dirty work in the hope that doing so will earn them their freedom. Khan doesn’t even appear onscreen until about a third of the way through, ushering in a fracturing of focus that moves our attention from a single vantage point towards an unexplainable overlapping of time and space. You must think bigger.
Who else can be considered a serial killer pulling strings of others to kill in their name? A better question might...
Who else can be considered a serial killer pulling strings of others to kill in their name? A better question might...
- 2/1/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
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