The 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has now concluded, with Sean Baker’s Anora taking home the top prize of Palme d’Or. While our coverage will continue with a few more reviews this week––and far beyond as we provide updates on the journey of these selections––we’ve asked our contributors on the ground to share favorites.
See their picks below, and explore all of our coverage here.
Leonardo Goi (@LeonardoGoi)
1. Grand Tour (Miguel Gomes)
2. All We Imagine As Light (Payal Kapadia)
3. Misericordia (Alain Guiraudie)
4. Anora (Sean Baker)
5. Eephus (Carson Lund)
6. Viet And Nam (Trương Minh Quý)
7. Christmas Eve In Miller’s Point (Tyler Taormina)
8. Black Dog (Guan Hu)
9. Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola)
10. Good One (India Donaldson)
Read all of Leonardo’s reviews here.
Luke Hicks (@lou_hicks)
1. Anora (Sean Baker)
2. Caught by the Tides (Jia Zhangke)
3. Oh, Canada (Paul Schrader)
4. Viet and Nam (Trương Minh Quý...
See their picks below, and explore all of our coverage here.
Leonardo Goi (@LeonardoGoi)
1. Grand Tour (Miguel Gomes)
2. All We Imagine As Light (Payal Kapadia)
3. Misericordia (Alain Guiraudie)
4. Anora (Sean Baker)
5. Eephus (Carson Lund)
6. Viet And Nam (Trương Minh Quý)
7. Christmas Eve In Miller’s Point (Tyler Taormina)
8. Black Dog (Guan Hu)
9. Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola)
10. Good One (India Donaldson)
Read all of Leonardo’s reviews here.
Luke Hicks (@lou_hicks)
1. Anora (Sean Baker)
2. Caught by the Tides (Jia Zhangke)
3. Oh, Canada (Paul Schrader)
4. Viet and Nam (Trương Minh Quý...
- 5/27/2024
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Gerade wurde Mohammad Rasoulofs stürmisch gefeierter „The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in Cannes mit dem Spezialpreis der Jury ausgezeichnet. Jetzt steht bereits fest, dass der außergewöhnliche Film beim Filmfest Hamburg Deutschlandpremiere feiern wird.
Mohammad Rasulofs „The Seed of the Sacred Fig“ (Credit: Festival de Cannes)
15 Minuten stehende Ovationen: Wer dabei war bei der Weltpremiere von „The Seed of the Sacred Fig“, wird dieses außergewöhnliche Screening so schnell nicht wieder vergessen. Am Tag darauf wurde Regisseur Mohammad Rasulof, dem erst vor wenigen Wochen die Flucht aus Iran gelungen war und danach in absentis zu acht Jahren Haft und Peitschenhieben verurteilt wurde, von der Jury um Greta Gerwig mit dem Spezialpreis der Jury geehrt – auch da gab es wieder stehende Ovationen für den Filmemacher.
Nun steht fest, dass der von der Moin Filmförderung unterstützte und von der in Hamburg ansässigen Run Way produzierte Ausnahmefilm seine Deutschlandpremiere beim kommenden Filmfest Hamburg feiern wird,...
Mohammad Rasulofs „The Seed of the Sacred Fig“ (Credit: Festival de Cannes)
15 Minuten stehende Ovationen: Wer dabei war bei der Weltpremiere von „The Seed of the Sacred Fig“, wird dieses außergewöhnliche Screening so schnell nicht wieder vergessen. Am Tag darauf wurde Regisseur Mohammad Rasulof, dem erst vor wenigen Wochen die Flucht aus Iran gelungen war und danach in absentis zu acht Jahren Haft und Peitschenhieben verurteilt wurde, von der Jury um Greta Gerwig mit dem Spezialpreis der Jury geehrt – auch da gab es wieder stehende Ovationen für den Filmemacher.
Nun steht fest, dass der von der Moin Filmförderung unterstützte und von der in Hamburg ansässigen Run Way produzierte Ausnahmefilm seine Deutschlandpremiere beim kommenden Filmfest Hamburg feiern wird,...
- 5/26/2024
- by Thomas Schultze
- Spot - Media & Film
Cannes awards have become hugely influential in subsequent awards races, especially the Oscars. The top honor, the Palme d’Or, confers prestige and a stamp of approval — this year from the Competition jury led by multi hyphenate Greta Gerwig — that awards voters take seriously.
Palme winners “Parasite,” “Triangle of Sadness,” and “Anatomy of a Fall” were all Best Picture Oscar contenders and won Oscars. And they were all picked up by specialty distributor Neon before they won their Cannes prize. Neon did not break its streak. It acquired two eventual prize-winners before the closing ceremony: Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner “Anora,” the first American film to win the prize since Terence Malick’s “Tree of Life” in 2011, and Iranian dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” which took home a special award.
Thus “Anora,” from veteran indie filmmaker Baker (Cannes entry “The Florida Project...
Palme winners “Parasite,” “Triangle of Sadness,” and “Anatomy of a Fall” were all Best Picture Oscar contenders and won Oscars. And they were all picked up by specialty distributor Neon before they won their Cannes prize. Neon did not break its streak. It acquired two eventual prize-winners before the closing ceremony: Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner “Anora,” the first American film to win the prize since Terence Malick’s “Tree of Life” in 2011, and Iranian dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” which took home a special award.
Thus “Anora,” from veteran indie filmmaker Baker (Cannes entry “The Florida Project...
- 5/26/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival was officially closed yesterday, on May 25, 2024, as the prizes for the movies and the actors were awarded at the closing ceremony. It was a very exciting and content-filled event, and we have also reported on numerous movies that had their premiere at Cannes, some of which were received well, while others… not so much. But, naturally, everyone wants to know who won and who lost at Cannes, and that is what we are going to report about in this article.
The article will be divided into two main sections. The first one will list all the juries at Cannes, since they are the ones who chose the winners at the film festival, so we think that it is only fair that you know who picked the winners. After that, we are going to list all the winners in each of the categories.
As we have said,...
The article will be divided into two main sections. The first one will list all the juries at Cannes, since they are the ones who chose the winners at the film festival, so we think that it is only fair that you know who picked the winners. After that, we are going to list all the winners in each of the categories.
As we have said,...
- 5/26/2024
- by Arthur S. Poe
- Fiction Horizon
El director de ‘The Florida Project’ se lleva la prestigiosa Palma de Oro.
La 77ª edición del prestigiosísimo festival de Cannes ha concluido. En esta edición, la Palma de Oro, el máximo galardón del festival al que aspira todo cineasta que pasa por la Croisette, ha sido para la película de Neon, “Anora”, dirigida por Sean Baker, más conocido por la película “The Florida Project”. Con este triunfo, la distribuidora Neon ha conseguido la prestigiosa Palma de Oro por quinta vez consecutiva, algo que se dice muy rápido: “Anora” en 2024, “Anatomía de una Caída” en 2023, “El Triángulo de la Tristeza” en 2022, “Titane” en 2021 y “Parásitos” en 2019. De esta forma, “Anora” se convierte en una muy fuerte candidata para la próxima temporada de premios. No solo la película, mucho ojo, porque la actuación de su protagonista, Mikey Madison, ha dado mucho que hablar.
La gala de clausura del festival ha estado...
La 77ª edición del prestigiosísimo festival de Cannes ha concluido. En esta edición, la Palma de Oro, el máximo galardón del festival al que aspira todo cineasta que pasa por la Croisette, ha sido para la película de Neon, “Anora”, dirigida por Sean Baker, más conocido por la película “The Florida Project”. Con este triunfo, la distribuidora Neon ha conseguido la prestigiosa Palma de Oro por quinta vez consecutiva, algo que se dice muy rápido: “Anora” en 2024, “Anatomía de una Caída” en 2023, “El Triángulo de la Tristeza” en 2022, “Titane” en 2021 y “Parásitos” en 2019. De esta forma, “Anora” se convierte en una muy fuerte candidata para la próxima temporada de premios. No solo la película, mucho ojo, porque la actuación de su protagonista, Mikey Madison, ha dado mucho que hablar.
La gala de clausura del festival ha estado...
- 5/26/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
Winners of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival awards, including the coveted Palme d'Or, were revealed at a glamorous ceremony in Cannes, France this weekend. The awards included many of my favorite films at the festival, and this year The Best film of actually won the top prize. Huzzah!! This doesn't always happen, but I loved Anora and had a feeling it would win ever since the screening on Tuesday earlier this week (read my full review). American filmmaker Sean Baker and his NYC film Anora won the Palme d'Or this year, following up Justine Triet's win for for Anatomy of a Fall last year. Congrats to Sean Baker and star Mikey Madison! I also would've been happy with Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig winning, but it took home a special prize. Jacques Audiard's musical Emilia Perez also won two awards, and Jesse Plemons won the Best Actor...
- 5/25/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Hollywood veteran George Lucas looks on benevolently as Sean Baker receives his Palme d’Or for Anora from Greta Gerwig’s Cannes jury Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival
Visibly shaking in front of Greta Gerwig’s Cannes Film Festival jury, American director Sean Baker lifted his Palme d’Or for Anora from the hands of George Lucas and went down on his knees to kiss the ground in front of the Star Wars legend who had just received his own honorary Palme from fellow veteran Francis Ford Coppola in the closing ceremony of this year’s 77th edition.
Mohammad Rasoulof, special jury prize for The Seed Of The Sacred Fig: “My thoughts are with members of my team who are not here”. Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival Baker who has had two previous films launch at the festival - The Florida Project and Red Rocket - has...
Visibly shaking in front of Greta Gerwig’s Cannes Film Festival jury, American director Sean Baker lifted his Palme d’Or for Anora from the hands of George Lucas and went down on his knees to kiss the ground in front of the Star Wars legend who had just received his own honorary Palme from fellow veteran Francis Ford Coppola in the closing ceremony of this year’s 77th edition.
Mohammad Rasoulof, special jury prize for The Seed Of The Sacred Fig: “My thoughts are with members of my team who are not here”. Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival Baker who has had two previous films launch at the festival - The Florida Project and Red Rocket - has...
- 5/25/2024
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Often, the juries at the Cannes Film Festival will try to make a political statement in their choices for the winners of the world’s most famous film festival. Not this year. At least, not in the way they might have.
I rather thought that director Mohammad Rasoulof would take the Palme d’Or for his stirring The Seed Of The Sacred Fig. It deals with the oppressive regime in Iran and the crisis in one family, where the daughters rise up to protest against the wishes of their father, a judge handing out death sentences for those who make their voices heard.
Plus, the back story of Rasoulof’s own daring escape from his home country after making this movie in secrecy and also being handed an eight-year prison sentence, is also a strong one.
He made his way to Cannes, where his film deservedly received a rapturous welcome...
I rather thought that director Mohammad Rasoulof would take the Palme d’Or for his stirring The Seed Of The Sacred Fig. It deals with the oppressive regime in Iran and the crisis in one family, where the daughters rise up to protest against the wishes of their father, a judge handing out death sentences for those who make their voices heard.
Plus, the back story of Rasoulof’s own daring escape from his home country after making this movie in secrecy and also being handed an eight-year prison sentence, is also a strong one.
He made his way to Cannes, where his film deservedly received a rapturous welcome...
- 5/25/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Update: Sean Baker’s New York-set romantic dramedy Anora has scooped the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or. This marked Baker’s second time in the competition after 2021’s Red Rocket, and tonight’s win amounted to the realization of what Baker said has been his “singular goal as a filmmaker for the past 30 years.”
Anora stars Mikey Madison as a stripper from Brooklyn who transforms into a modern Cinderella when she meets the son of a Russian oligarch. Complications arise when his parents find out and try to get the marriage annulled.
Related Gallery: Every Palme d’Or Winner Going Back To 1939
In his review, Deadline’s Damon Wise called it “a high-decibel screwball comedy… that accelerates at speed, cruises at high altitude for a surprisingly long time, then comes back down to Earth with a deeply affecting and almost unbearably melancholy coda that sends the audience out in silence.
Anora stars Mikey Madison as a stripper from Brooklyn who transforms into a modern Cinderella when she meets the son of a Russian oligarch. Complications arise when his parents find out and try to get the marriage annulled.
Related Gallery: Every Palme d’Or Winner Going Back To 1939
In his review, Deadline’s Damon Wise called it “a high-decibel screwball comedy… that accelerates at speed, cruises at high altitude for a surprisingly long time, then comes back down to Earth with a deeply affecting and almost unbearably melancholy coda that sends the audience out in silence.
- 5/25/2024
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
It just had to be, didn’t it.
U.S. distributor Neon only had two movies in the Competition: Anora and The Seed of the Sacred Fig. Neither could have fared any better with the critics and both won prizes tonight.
It was Sean Baker’s Anora that stormed to the top prize on the Riviera, making it a remarkable five Palme d’Or wins in a row for Tom Quinn’s outfit Neon.
“The future of cinema is where it started: in a movie theater,” said Baker, accepting his Palme d’Or. You can watch the acceptance speech below.
Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall won last year, following the US distributor’s previous acquisitions Triangle Of Sadness, Titane and Parasite.
Palme d'Or X five. Merci, Cannes. pic.twitter.com/FimbVR1kUw
— Neon (@neonrated) May 25, 2024
New York-set romantic dramedy Anora is about a stripper from Brooklyn who transforms...
U.S. distributor Neon only had two movies in the Competition: Anora and The Seed of the Sacred Fig. Neither could have fared any better with the critics and both won prizes tonight.
It was Sean Baker’s Anora that stormed to the top prize on the Riviera, making it a remarkable five Palme d’Or wins in a row for Tom Quinn’s outfit Neon.
“The future of cinema is where it started: in a movie theater,” said Baker, accepting his Palme d’Or. You can watch the acceptance speech below.
Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall won last year, following the US distributor’s previous acquisitions Triangle Of Sadness, Titane and Parasite.
Palme d'Or X five. Merci, Cannes. pic.twitter.com/FimbVR1kUw
— Neon (@neonrated) May 25, 2024
New York-set romantic dramedy Anora is about a stripper from Brooklyn who transforms...
- 5/25/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The 77th Cannes Film Festival has come to a close. As with every year, the festival was host to its share of standing ovations, divisive screenings and debates over just which films and performances would take home awards at the end of the 12-day event, widely considered the most prestigious in the entire world. This year, Sean Baker’s Anora took the Palme d’Or while India’s All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix, generally considered the runner-up.
So, who else won out at this year’s Cannes Film Festival? While below is only a partial list of winners, you can check out the complete and extensive list here.
Palme d’Or: Anora, Sean Baker
Grand Prix: All We Imagine as Light, Payal Kapadia
Best Director: Miguel Gomes, Grand Tour
Best Actor: Jesse Plemons, Kinds of Kindness
Best Actress: Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Zoe Saldaña,...
So, who else won out at this year’s Cannes Film Festival? While below is only a partial list of winners, you can check out the complete and extensive list here.
Palme d’Or: Anora, Sean Baker
Grand Prix: All We Imagine as Light, Payal Kapadia
Best Director: Miguel Gomes, Grand Tour
Best Actor: Jesse Plemons, Kinds of Kindness
Best Actress: Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Zoe Saldaña,...
- 5/25/2024
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
After two weeks of nonstop cinema, the moment of truth finally arrived. The winners of the 77th Cannes Film Festival were announced at a gala ceremony on Saturday night.
The Palme d’Or, the fest’s top honor, went to Sean Baker’s sex worker screwball comedy Anora. A nervous and shaking Baker took the stage and thanked the jury, saying he still “couldn’t believe it.” Baker said winning Cannes’ top prize has been “my singular goal as a filmmaker for the past 30 years.”
Baker also singled out Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg, two veteran directors with films in Cannes competition this year, as major inspirations. Baker has come far, going from shooting his 2015 feature Tangerine on an iPhone5s to winning the Palme d’Or. He is the first American director to win the Palme since Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life in 2011.
Commenting on the jury’s decision,...
The Palme d’Or, the fest’s top honor, went to Sean Baker’s sex worker screwball comedy Anora. A nervous and shaking Baker took the stage and thanked the jury, saying he still “couldn’t believe it.” Baker said winning Cannes’ top prize has been “my singular goal as a filmmaker for the past 30 years.”
Baker also singled out Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg, two veteran directors with films in Cannes competition this year, as major inspirations. Baker has come far, going from shooting his 2015 feature Tangerine on an iPhone5s to winning the Palme d’Or. He is the first American director to win the Palme since Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life in 2011.
Commenting on the jury’s decision,...
- 5/25/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cannes – After 12 days of screenings, the Cannes Film Festival has drawn to a close. That means it’s time for Greta Gerwig and her jury to reveal the winners of the competition section of the festival. This year, the nine jury members selected Sean Baker’s “Anora” as the winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or.
Read More: “The Seed Of The Sacred Fig” Review: Mohammad Rasoulof’s searing indictment of modern Iran [Cannes]
Three of the last four Palme winners, “Parasite,” “The Triangle of Sadness,” and “Anatomy of a Fall” earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
Continue reading Sean Baker’s ‘Anora’ Wins Palme d’Or At 2024 Cannes Film Festival at The Playlist.
Read More: “The Seed Of The Sacred Fig” Review: Mohammad Rasoulof’s searing indictment of modern Iran [Cannes]
Three of the last four Palme winners, “Parasite,” “The Triangle of Sadness,” and “Anatomy of a Fall” earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
Continue reading Sean Baker’s ‘Anora’ Wins Palme d’Or At 2024 Cannes Film Festival at The Playlist.
- 5/25/2024
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
Sean Baker’s Anora has won the Palme d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, which wrapped Saturday night (May 25).
The US comedy-drama stars Mikey Madison as the titular Anora, a sex worker who finds herself married to a Russian oligarch and must fend off his parents who are keen for an annulment. It marks Baker’s second time in Competition, following 2021’s Red Rocket.
Scroll down for full list of winners
In his speech, Baker devoted the award “to all sex workers past, present and future”, and voiced his support for theatrical distribution: “The future of cinema is where...
The US comedy-drama stars Mikey Madison as the titular Anora, a sex worker who finds herself married to a Russian oligarch and must fend off his parents who are keen for an annulment. It marks Baker’s second time in Competition, following 2021’s Red Rocket.
Scroll down for full list of winners
In his speech, Baker devoted the award “to all sex workers past, present and future”, and voiced his support for theatrical distribution: “The future of cinema is where...
- 5/25/2024
- ScreenDaily
Sean Baker’s “Anora” has won the Palme d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, a jury headed by Greta Gerwig announced on Saturday.
The win for Baker’s freewheeling film about a stripper and the son of a Russian oligarch becomes the fifth consecutive Palme winner to be distributed by Neon, which previously handled “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Triangle of Sadness,” “Titane” and “Parasite.”
TheWrap’s review said of the film, “It’s one of the most entertaining movies to play in Cannes this year, and also one of the most confounding: part character study of the title character (Mikey Madison), a sex worker from Brighton Beach who falls for rich Russian playboy Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn); part look into the world of the super-rich, an arena Baker has studiously avoided in films like ‘Tangerine,’ ‘The Florida Project’ and ‘Red Rocket’; part escalating nightmare comedy reminiscent of ’80s gems...
The win for Baker’s freewheeling film about a stripper and the son of a Russian oligarch becomes the fifth consecutive Palme winner to be distributed by Neon, which previously handled “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Triangle of Sadness,” “Titane” and “Parasite.”
TheWrap’s review said of the film, “It’s one of the most entertaining movies to play in Cannes this year, and also one of the most confounding: part character study of the title character (Mikey Madison), a sex worker from Brighton Beach who falls for rich Russian playboy Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn); part look into the world of the super-rich, an arena Baker has studiously avoided in films like ‘Tangerine,’ ‘The Florida Project’ and ‘Red Rocket’; part escalating nightmare comedy reminiscent of ’80s gems...
- 5/25/2024
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Mohammad Rasulofs in Cannes frenetisch gefeierter „The Seed of the Sacred Fig” hat den Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai gewonnen, den der französische Arthousekinoverband Afcae an einen Film aus dem Cannes-Wettbewerb verleiht.
Mohammad Rasulofs „The Seed of the Sacred Fig“ (Credit: Festival de Cannes)
Die Jurymitglieder der Afcae – Association Française des Cinémas d’Art et d’Essai, des französischen Arthousekinoverbands, hat Mohammad Rasulofs „The Seed of the Sacred Fig“ als besten Film aus dem Cannes-Wettbewerb ausgezeichnet. Der Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai wird in Partnerschaft mit dem Festival de Cannes vergeben. Mit einer besonderen Erwähnung wurde der indische Kritikerliebling „All We Imagine As Light“ von Payal Kapadia geehrt. Mit dem Preis unterstützt die Afcae und das Festival de Cannes die Verbreitung des Arthousekinos auf den Kinoleinwänden und setzt gleichzeitig ein Zeichen für das große Netzwerk, das über 1200 Kinos umfasst und damit nach eigenen Angaben der weltweit größte Arthousekino-Verband ist.
Mohammad Rasulofs „The Seed of the Sacred Fig“ (Credit: Festival de Cannes)
Die Jurymitglieder der Afcae – Association Française des Cinémas d’Art et d’Essai, des französischen Arthousekinoverbands, hat Mohammad Rasulofs „The Seed of the Sacred Fig“ als besten Film aus dem Cannes-Wettbewerb ausgezeichnet. Der Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai wird in Partnerschaft mit dem Festival de Cannes vergeben. Mit einer besonderen Erwähnung wurde der indische Kritikerliebling „All We Imagine As Light“ von Payal Kapadia geehrt. Mit dem Preis unterstützt die Afcae und das Festival de Cannes die Verbreitung des Arthousekinos auf den Kinoleinwänden und setzt gleichzeitig ein Zeichen für das große Netzwerk, das über 1200 Kinos umfasst und damit nach eigenen Angaben der weltweit größte Arthousekino-Verband ist.
- 5/25/2024
- by Barbara Schuster
- Spot - Media & Film
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
Cannes — Nine years after being named one of Variety’s Directors to Watch, Sean Baker won the Palme d’Or for “Anora,” a rowdy whirlwind romance between an exotic dancer (Mikey Madison) and the obscenely rich son of a Russian oligarch (played by Mark Eydelshteyn). Baker is the first American filmmaker to cinch the festival’s top prize since Terrence Malick earned the Palme for “The Tree of Life” in 2011.
“Anora” is Baker’s third film to debut at Cannes, following “The Florida Project” and “Red Rocket.” He accepted the award from two-time Palme d’Or winner Francis Ford Coppola, whose “Megalopolis” went home empty-handed. Coppola also presented an honorary Palme d’Or to his friend and fellow legend George Lucas, whom he called his “own kid brother.”
Baker dedicated the award to “all sex workers, past, present and future,” underscoring the importance of “making films intended for theatrical exhibition.
“Anora” is Baker’s third film to debut at Cannes, following “The Florida Project” and “Red Rocket.” He accepted the award from two-time Palme d’Or winner Francis Ford Coppola, whose “Megalopolis” went home empty-handed. Coppola also presented an honorary Palme d’Or to his friend and fellow legend George Lucas, whom he called his “own kid brother.”
Baker dedicated the award to “all sex workers, past, present and future,” underscoring the importance of “making films intended for theatrical exhibition.
- 5/25/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival is finally coming to a close — but not without a big splash. Crossing the Croissette one last time, stars and filmmakers alike are about to find out who’s taking home this year’s prizes.
Guessing the Palme d’Or winner has become a beloved pastime for fans and critics alike, but the best part of any Cannes Awards ceremony are the surprises. This year’s jury, led by Greta Gerwig and including Lily Gladstone, Ebru Ceylan, Eva Green, Nadine Labaki, J.A. Bayona, Pierfrancesco Favino, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Omar Sy, has been pretty tight-lipped about its preferences, but there are certainly a few standouts amongst the 22 films in competition.
“Megalopolis,” Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-in-the-making passion project saw him return to Cannes after many years, but was met with a mixed response despite IndieWire’s own appreciation for the film. One of the real standouts of...
Guessing the Palme d’Or winner has become a beloved pastime for fans and critics alike, but the best part of any Cannes Awards ceremony are the surprises. This year’s jury, led by Greta Gerwig and including Lily Gladstone, Ebru Ceylan, Eva Green, Nadine Labaki, J.A. Bayona, Pierfrancesco Favino, Hirokazu Kore-eda, and Omar Sy, has been pretty tight-lipped about its preferences, but there are certainly a few standouts amongst the 22 films in competition.
“Megalopolis,” Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-in-the-making passion project saw him return to Cannes after many years, but was met with a mixed response despite IndieWire’s own appreciation for the film. One of the real standouts of...
- 5/25/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
The hype out of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, for those far-flung and on the ground, tells one story: This was among the weaker lineups in recent memory.
Sure, huge stories broke out of the festival, from Francis Ford Coppola’s distribution push for his self-funded, decades-in-the-making passion project “Megalopolis” to Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof fleeing his home country after being sentenced to eight years in prison, finally making it to Cannes with his new film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” This journey inspired the jury to award him and his film a Special Prize (Prix Spécial).
Elsewhere in the official selection, Un Certain Regard already handed out its prizes on Friday from a jury led by Xavier Dolan and including Maïmouna Doucouré, Asmae El Moudir, Vicky Krieps, and Todd McCarthy. Among the top winners were Roberto Minervini (“The Damned”) and Rungano Nyoni (“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”) tying for Best Director,...
Sure, huge stories broke out of the festival, from Francis Ford Coppola’s distribution push for his self-funded, decades-in-the-making passion project “Megalopolis” to Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof fleeing his home country after being sentenced to eight years in prison, finally making it to Cannes with his new film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” This journey inspired the jury to award him and his film a Special Prize (Prix Spécial).
Elsewhere in the official selection, Un Certain Regard already handed out its prizes on Friday from a jury led by Xavier Dolan and including Maïmouna Doucouré, Asmae El Moudir, Vicky Krieps, and Todd McCarthy. Among the top winners were Roberto Minervini (“The Damned”) and Rungano Nyoni (“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”) tying for Best Director,...
- 5/25/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
The closing ceremony of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival is taking place today (May 25) at 18:45 Cest (17.45 BST) at the Grand Theatre Lumiere.
Scroll down for live winners
The ceremony is broadcast live on France 2, as well as online in various international territories via Brut. It will be followed by a screening of the closing night film.
This story will update with the winners as they happen, below. Refresh the page for latest updates
This year’s jury was made up of president Greta Gerwig, plus Ebru Ceylan, Lily Gladstone, Eva Green, Nadine Labaki, J.A. Bayona, Pierfrancesco Favino, Kore-eda Hirokazu and Omar Sy.
Scroll down for live winners
The ceremony is broadcast live on France 2, as well as online in various international territories via Brut. It will be followed by a screening of the closing night film.
This story will update with the winners as they happen, below. Refresh the page for latest updates
This year’s jury was made up of president Greta Gerwig, plus Ebru Ceylan, Lily Gladstone, Eva Green, Nadine Labaki, J.A. Bayona, Pierfrancesco Favino, Kore-eda Hirokazu and Omar Sy.
- 5/25/2024
- ScreenDaily
One of the most anticipated films premiering at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival is The Seed of the Sacred Fig, the latest from acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. His films have show regularly at festivals – Goodbye screened at Cannes 2011, Manuscripts Don't Burn at Cannes 2013, A Man of Integrity at Cannes 2017; his most recent 2020 film There Is No Evil won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The Seed of the Sacred Fig is especially important and potent because it really upset the Iranian government – they sentenced Rasoulof to eight years in prison as well as flogging, a fine and confiscation of his property just because he made this film. Part of the big question is why – what does it show and why is the Iranian government so afraid of it? Now we know. This remarkable film is about the current events in Iran, mainly the silencing of many women and...
- 5/25/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
And finally, it came down to the wire for not one, but two films that disrupted what had been the top-ranked film among our Cannes Critics’ Panel members. Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez initially reigned supreme, joined shortly by Sean Baker’s Anora. However, it wasn’t until films #20 and #21 that we solidified our top three films and confirmed our number one. The buzz title of the fest (via some some secret industry market screenings), and eventually the top film according to our jury of twenty, went to The Seed of the Sacred Fig. After three Un Certain Regard showcases, Mohammad Rasoulof‘s latest (and first time in competition) film reigned supreme with an average score of 3.7.…...
- 5/25/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Mohammad Rasoulof’s ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ Wins Fipresci Award at Cannes: ‘A Courageous Story’
Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” won the Fipresci award at Cannes.
The jury of the International Federation of Film Critics called it “a courageous story set in modern-day Iran that deals with the conflict between tradition and progress, depicted in a very powerful and imaginative way.”
Following a rapturous screening and 2024 record 12-minute standing ovation, the film became a Palme d’Or frontrunner, reported Variety.
“The only reason I left Iran – and that was what made me take that decision – was to go on telling the stories of my land. That was really my only motivation.”
“I need to go on telling stories, creating stories. However, this does not mean that I have left the narratives of Iran. Iran is still inside me, and I still can go on telling Iranian stories and conveying them to the rest of the world,” Rasoulof told Variety’s Nick Vivarelli two days ago.
The jury of the International Federation of Film Critics called it “a courageous story set in modern-day Iran that deals with the conflict between tradition and progress, depicted in a very powerful and imaginative way.”
Following a rapturous screening and 2024 record 12-minute standing ovation, the film became a Palme d’Or frontrunner, reported Variety.
“The only reason I left Iran – and that was what made me take that decision – was to go on telling the stories of my land. That was really my only motivation.”
“I need to go on telling stories, creating stories. However, this does not mean that I have left the narratives of Iran. Iran is still inside me, and I still can go on telling Iranian stories and conveying them to the rest of the world,” Rasoulof told Variety’s Nick Vivarelli two days ago.
- 5/25/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Way of the Gun: Rasoulof’s Bold, Blunt Indictment of Iranian Regime
There’s been little opportunity for artists to clearly or critically speak truth to power in post-revolutionary Iran, where filmmakers and actors are often censored through brute force. Anything considered as propaganda against the state can irreparably affect one’s career, which is why Iranian cinema, like a lot of films made by artists suppressed by political terror, often moves in the realm of metaphor, where intentions and themes are coded. Until now. With his tenth feature film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Mohammed Rasoulof launches what constitutes an artistic missile into this supposedly omnipotent dominion, and seems to have drop kicked the hornet’s nest.…...
There’s been little opportunity for artists to clearly or critically speak truth to power in post-revolutionary Iran, where filmmakers and actors are often censored through brute force. Anything considered as propaganda against the state can irreparably affect one’s career, which is why Iranian cinema, like a lot of films made by artists suppressed by political terror, often moves in the realm of metaphor, where intentions and themes are coded. Until now. With his tenth feature film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Mohammed Rasoulof launches what constitutes an artistic missile into this supposedly omnipotent dominion, and seems to have drop kicked the hornet’s nest.…...
- 5/25/2024
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has swooped to a late victory on Screen’s 2024 Cannes jury grid with an average score of 3.4.
See the final jury grid below.
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig and Michel Hazanavicius’ The Most Precious Of Cargoes were the final two titles to land on the grid, with the latter scoring 1.2, the lowest score this year.
Rasoulof attended last night’s (May 24) Cannes premiere after fleeing his country following an eight-year prison sentence from Iranian authorities. The family drama follows a judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court grappling...
See the final jury grid below.
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig and Michel Hazanavicius’ The Most Precious Of Cargoes were the final two titles to land on the grid, with the latter scoring 1.2, the lowest score this year.
Rasoulof attended last night’s (May 24) Cannes premiere after fleeing his country following an eight-year prison sentence from Iranian authorities. The family drama follows a judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court grappling...
- 5/25/2024
- ScreenDaily
Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof reflected on the secretive methods behind making The Seed Of The Sacred Fig and how he fled his home country while offering a rallying cry to his fellow filmmakers to “not be afraid”.
Speaking at a press conference in Cannes, after receiving a rapturous response at the world premiere of his latest film in Competition at the festival last night, the dissident director also revealed the inspirations behind the feature and how he was hospitalised during the shooting.
‘The Seed Of The Sacred Fig’: Cannes Review
“The idea [for the film] springs from years of confrontation with the...
Speaking at a press conference in Cannes, after receiving a rapturous response at the world premiere of his latest film in Competition at the festival last night, the dissident director also revealed the inspirations behind the feature and how he was hospitalised during the shooting.
‘The Seed Of The Sacred Fig’: Cannes Review
“The idea [for the film] springs from years of confrontation with the...
- 5/25/2024
- ScreenDaily
The narrative behind Mohammad Rasoulof‘s journey to the Cannes competition (his first) will be talked about for a long time. Escaping his homeland (and an eight-year prison sentence from the country’s authorities for making the film), The Seed of the Sacred Fig is a miracle film. A three-time Un Certain Regard invited filmmaker with two wins for 2011’s Goodbye (won the Directing Prize) and 2017’s A Man of Integrity (won the Un Certain Regard award). Manuscripts Don’t Burn in 2013 was sandwiched by those two. If Rasoulof has a legit chance at winning the Palme, it’ll come directly after winning the Golden Bear at the Berlinale for There Is No Evil (2020).…...
- 5/25/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
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
“If we had to deal with cocaine, it would have been easier,” joked The Seed of the Sacred Fig filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof this Am at a Cannes presser about his entanglement with totalitarian Iranian authorities over his cinema which prompted the filmmaker to flee his homeland from imprisonment.
“We’re gangsters of cinema,” Rasoulof further quipped in talking about how he’s a renegade with his art in the face of what he called a dictatorship in Iran.
“My heart is with the actors and the members of the team who can’t be with us, I think about them all the time,” said Rasoulof at the top of the conference. “I hope that the restrictions they’re encountering will be lifted.”
“The regime tries to appear as a supreme power. What are they really afraid of? Why are they so afraid of the stories in our films?” asked the director.
“We’re gangsters of cinema,” Rasoulof further quipped in talking about how he’s a renegade with his art in the face of what he called a dictatorship in Iran.
“My heart is with the actors and the members of the team who can’t be with us, I think about them all the time,” said Rasoulof at the top of the conference. “I hope that the restrictions they’re encountering will be lifted.”
“The regime tries to appear as a supreme power. What are they really afraid of? Why are they so afraid of the stories in our films?” asked the director.
- 5/25/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Cannes – After screening “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” a world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, one has to breathe a sigh of relief that director and screenwriter Mohammad Rasoulof is safely out of Iran. A victim of a politically motivated jail sentence for supporting the 2022 Masha Amini hijab protests, Rasoulof‘s latest feature will likely anger the Iranian government even more. Especially considering how brilliant “Sacred Fig” is at deconstructing the rampant injustice in the totalitarian state.
Continue reading ‘The Seed Of The Sacred Fig’ Review: Mohammad Rasoulof’s Searing Indictment Of Modern Iran [Cannes] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘The Seed Of The Sacred Fig’ Review: Mohammad Rasoulof’s Searing Indictment Of Modern Iran [Cannes] at The Playlist.
- 5/24/2024
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
The Cannes Film Festival will crown its Competition winners tomorrow night and the consensus seems to be building around a few titles.
All films have now been seen and it’s fair to say that things really heated up in the back nine. The Competition section took a few days to catch fire sparking rumor that this was unlikely to be a vintage crop of movies but Emilia Perez‘s bow last Saturday finally kicked the contest into another gear and since then multiple films have fared well among critics. There have been some notable highs on trade jury grids. The Palme d’Or winner is often not the movie with the highest final score on such lists but the impressively high numbers reveal a range of critically appreciated movies this edition.
One of the trends to emerge from this year’s lineup is the foregrounded position of women within the most buzzed-about films.
All films have now been seen and it’s fair to say that things really heated up in the back nine. The Competition section took a few days to catch fire sparking rumor that this was unlikely to be a vintage crop of movies but Emilia Perez‘s bow last Saturday finally kicked the contest into another gear and since then multiple films have fared well among critics. There have been some notable highs on trade jury grids. The Palme d’Or winner is often not the movie with the highest final score on such lists but the impressively high numbers reveal a range of critically appreciated movies this edition.
One of the trends to emerge from this year’s lineup is the foregrounded position of women within the most buzzed-about films.
- 5/24/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival is nearing its conclusion, with plenty of films making a splash on the starry Croisette on the French Riviera. However, one studio executive tells Variety, “There aren’t many Oscar-buzzy titles to be excited about, not even in the international feature space.”
This year’s main competition jury, led by president Greta Gerwig and including J.A. Bayona, Ebru Ceylan, Pierfrancesco Favino, Lily Gladstone, Eva Green, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nadine Labaki and Omar Sy, will name its winners on Saturday.
It was looking like a foregone conclusion that the Palme d’Or win would be bestowed upon Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical “Emilia Pérez,” starring Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Karla Sofía Gascón, which was picked up by Netflix. However, on Friday, Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” garnered the most enthusiastic reactions on social media from attendees and the longest-standing ovation at 12 minutes. One awards publicist says,...
This year’s main competition jury, led by president Greta Gerwig and including J.A. Bayona, Ebru Ceylan, Pierfrancesco Favino, Lily Gladstone, Eva Green, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nadine Labaki and Omar Sy, will name its winners on Saturday.
It was looking like a foregone conclusion that the Palme d’Or win would be bestowed upon Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language musical “Emilia Pérez,” starring Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Karla Sofía Gascón, which was picked up by Netflix. However, on Friday, Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” garnered the most enthusiastic reactions on social media from attendees and the longest-standing ovation at 12 minutes. One awards publicist says,...
- 5/24/2024
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
The Artist Oscar winner Michel Hazanavicius returned to the Cannes Competition this evening with animated fairy tale feature The Most Precious of Cargoes. The warm applause for the film inside the Grand Théâtre Lumière went on for 10 minutes.
Coming in at a tight 81 minutes, it’s the final Competition film to premiere this year.
Hazanavicius applauded during ‘The Most Precious of Cargoes’ ovation #Cannes2024 pic.twitter.com/3TWoUBF6V9
— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) May 24, 2024
The voice cast includes the late Jean-Louis Trintignant, Grégory Gadebois, Dominique Blanc and Denis Podalydès.
Hazanavicius wrote the script for The Most Precious of Cargoes, which is based on the novel by Jean-Claude Grumberg. The story centers on a poor woodcutter and his wife who, once upon a time, lived in a great forest. Cold, hunger, poverty and a war raging all around them meant their lives were very hard.
One day, the woodcutter’s wife rescues...
Coming in at a tight 81 minutes, it’s the final Competition film to premiere this year.
Hazanavicius applauded during ‘The Most Precious of Cargoes’ ovation #Cannes2024 pic.twitter.com/3TWoUBF6V9
— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) May 24, 2024
The voice cast includes the late Jean-Louis Trintignant, Grégory Gadebois, Dominique Blanc and Denis Podalydès.
Hazanavicius wrote the script for The Most Precious of Cargoes, which is based on the novel by Jean-Claude Grumberg. The story centers on a poor woodcutter and his wife who, once upon a time, lived in a great forest. Cold, hunger, poverty and a war raging all around them meant their lives were very hard.
One day, the woodcutter’s wife rescues...
- 5/24/2024
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” has a lot going for it on the way to a potential Palme d’Or win: strong reviews, an anguished political call-out against Iranian oppression, and Rasoulof’s own status as an exile who just fled his home country and was finally able to attend Cannes after all. (Read our interview with the director here.)
On the steps of the Palais for Friday’s premiere, Rasoulof held up photos of two of the actors — Misagh Zare and Soheila Golestani – banned from leaving Iran to attend the festival. He’s already shared how the Islamic Republic has been pressuring his crew into convincing Cannes to drop the film, which charts the breakdown of a family after a Revolutionary Court judge’s gun goes missing, from its lineup. This is Rasoulof’s first time in competition. He previously won prizes in Un Certain...
On the steps of the Palais for Friday’s premiere, Rasoulof held up photos of two of the actors — Misagh Zare and Soheila Golestani – banned from leaving Iran to attend the festival. He’s already shared how the Islamic Republic has been pressuring his crew into convincing Cannes to drop the film, which charts the breakdown of a family after a Revolutionary Court judge’s gun goes missing, from its lineup. This is Rasoulof’s first time in competition. He previously won prizes in Un Certain...
- 5/24/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
“Screen Talk: went live at the American Pavilion in Cannes this year and drew a lively crowd. Anne Thompson raved about one of the big-epic Hollywood titles playing out of competition, George Miller’s prequel “Furiosa” (Warner Bros.), starring Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role, which opens May 14, while both Thompson and cohost Ryan Lattanzio panned Kevin Costner’s old-fashioned three-hour Western “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One” (Warner Bros.).
They both agree that this vanity project makes mad genius Francis Coppola’s self-funded $120 million “Megalopolis” look brilliant by comparison. Even if the Competition title is “unhinged,” at least he’s treading new ground, unlike Costner, who has spent some $100 million so far for the first two chapters of a planned four (the second part releases August 16). Coppola still awaits a North American buyer.
Both hosts admire Jacques Audiard’s Competition title “Emilia Perez,” a Spanish-language musical shot in Mexico...
They both agree that this vanity project makes mad genius Francis Coppola’s self-funded $120 million “Megalopolis” look brilliant by comparison. Even if the Competition title is “unhinged,” at least he’s treading new ground, unlike Costner, who has spent some $100 million so far for the first two chapters of a planned four (the second part releases August 16). Coppola still awaits a North American buyer.
Both hosts admire Jacques Audiard’s Competition title “Emilia Perez,” a Spanish-language musical shot in Mexico...
- 5/24/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio and Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
“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
This afternoon, Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof debuted his latest feature, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, in Competition here at the Cannes Film Festival to a nearly 15-minute standing ovation.
The fact that the filmmaker was in attendance is especially poignant after he fled his home country through what he described to Deadline as a “complicated” and “anguishing” journey across Europe to a safe house in Germany. Back in Iran, Rasoulof is wanted by authorities who have sentenced him to eight years in prison alongside a series of physical punishments including flogging for “signing statements and making films and documentaries.”
Emotions running high during ‘Sacred Fig’ ovation #Cannes2024 pic.twitter.com/KvaA2VU9Sk
— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) May 24, 2024
Rasoulof appealed his sentence, and during the lengthy legal process put together a plan to flee Iran, which he told us all together took 28 days on the road.
Best known for his forceful,...
The fact that the filmmaker was in attendance is especially poignant after he fled his home country through what he described to Deadline as a “complicated” and “anguishing” journey across Europe to a safe house in Germany. Back in Iran, Rasoulof is wanted by authorities who have sentenced him to eight years in prison alongside a series of physical punishments including flogging for “signing statements and making films and documentaries.”
Emotions running high during ‘Sacred Fig’ ovation #Cannes2024 pic.twitter.com/KvaA2VU9Sk
— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) May 24, 2024
Rasoulof appealed his sentence, and during the lengthy legal process put together a plan to flee Iran, which he told us all together took 28 days on the road.
Best known for his forceful,...
- 5/24/2024
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline 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
For more than two decades, Iman (Misagh Zare) has functioned as a civil servant, doing work that his kids — who represent Iran’s younger generation — would be ashamed of. Better to keep them in the dark. At last, for his loyalty, Iman has been given a promotion, not to judge (the job he wants) but to inspector (a job no one wants). Inspectors are the goons who interrogate students his daughters’ age when they’re arrested for protesting, the ones who sign off on death sentences for alleged dissidents. Iman doesn’t just work for the Iranian regime; he is the regime.
With livid, thinking-person’s thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” director Mohammad Rasoulof responds to his own imprisonment in 2022 by examining Iranian tensions within the context of a well-placed Tehran family. For most of this slow-boiling nearly-three-hour movie, the main character is not Iman but his submissive,...
With livid, thinking-person’s thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” director Mohammad Rasoulof responds to his own imprisonment in 2022 by examining Iranian tensions within the context of a well-placed Tehran family. For most of this slow-boiling nearly-three-hour movie, the main character is not Iman but his submissive,...
- 5/24/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Woman, life, freedom. Down with theocracy! The slogans shouted in the bloody streets of Tehran over the past year echo through The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Mohammad Rasoulof’s long, heartfelt story of an Iranian family that starts to tear at the seams when Iman’s two daughters are told what he really does at the office.
“Do you know your father signs hundreds of death warrants every day?” shouts a young man to the girls a week later, when he is recognized in a remote roadside grocery store. By that stage, everyone knows what Iman (Missagh Zare) does at the office; his name and address are posted on the internet by dissidents. Iman seemed like a mild-mannered man when he was first introduced, but now those liberal thugs are coming for him. A man has to act. A man has to protect his family.
Rasoulof has called up...
“Do you know your father signs hundreds of death warrants every day?” shouts a young man to the girls a week later, when he is recognized in a remote roadside grocery store. By that stage, everyone knows what Iman (Missagh Zare) does at the office; his name and address are posted on the internet by dissidents. Iman seemed like a mild-mannered man when he was first introduced, but now those liberal thugs are coming for him. A man has to act. A man has to protect his family.
Rasoulof has called up...
- 5/24/2024
- by Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is an anguished cry from the heart of Mohammad Rasoulof, the Iranian filmmaker who just fled his home country for Europe after an eight-year prison sentence from the Islamic Republic. This is not the first brush with theocratic law for the dissident director, who’s been working steadily out of Iran for two decades.
So while Iran will never, ever submit his deeply unsettling latest masterwork for the Best International Feature Oscar — often the only harbinger of anti-establishment Middle Eastern films making their way to the U.S. — this searing domestic thriller deserves the widest audience possible. With the brutal 2022 killing of Mahsa Amini by government hands as his launching point, Rasoulof crafts an extraordinarily gripping allegory about the corrupting costs of power and the suppression of women under a religious patriarchy that crushes the very people it claims to protect.
“Sacred Fig” arose...
So while Iran will never, ever submit his deeply unsettling latest masterwork for the Best International Feature Oscar — often the only harbinger of anti-establishment Middle Eastern films making their way to the U.S. — this searing domestic thriller deserves the widest audience possible. With the brutal 2022 killing of Mahsa Amini by government hands as his launching point, Rasoulof crafts an extraordinarily gripping allegory about the corrupting costs of power and the suppression of women under a religious patriarchy that crushes the very people it claims to protect.
“Sacred Fig” arose...
- 5/24/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Out of all the major filmmakers to emerge from Iran over the past decades, Mohammad Rasoulof has certainly grown into the most overtly political. His finely crafted, hard-hitting dramas, including the superb 2020 Berlin Golden Bear Winner There Is No Evil, make no qualms about tackling his country’s oppressive regime and religious theocracy head-on, pulling few punches in their depictions of a nation under siege.
This clearly explains why the director has been targeted by the Iranian authorities since 2010, when he was first arrested along with Jafar Panahi for shooting a movie in secret. After receiving a six-year prison sentence, he eventually got out on bail — only to be officially banned from leaving the country in 2017. He was arrested again in 2022, spent months in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, received an eight-year sentence in 2024 and finally decided to flee the country earlier this month, arriving just in time to premiere his latest film in Cannes.
This clearly explains why the director has been targeted by the Iranian authorities since 2010, when he was first arrested along with Jafar Panahi for shooting a movie in secret. After receiving a six-year prison sentence, he eventually got out on bail — only to be officially banned from leaving the country in 2017. He was arrested again in 2022, spent months in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, received an eight-year sentence in 2024 and finally decided to flee the country earlier this month, arriving just in time to premiere his latest film in Cannes.
- 5/24/2024
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
From politics to buzz films, star appearances and deal making, there was – as always – plenty to talk about at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Screen gathers together the major discussion points of this year’s festival.
Muted politics
In the build-up to Cannes, there was much talk about how this year’s festival was set to be the most politically charged edition of recent years, amid Israel’s war on Gaza, festival workers threatening strike action and rumours of bombshell #MeToo accusations set to rock the French industry. The result was far more muted, with the #MeToo accusations quickly...
Muted politics
In the build-up to Cannes, there was much talk about how this year’s festival was set to be the most politically charged edition of recent years, amid Israel’s war on Gaza, festival workers threatening strike action and rumours of bombshell #MeToo accusations set to rock the French industry. The result was far more muted, with the #MeToo accusations quickly...
- 5/24/2024
- ScreenDaily
Good afternoon Insiders, Jesse Whittock back again to take you through the week’s news in the entertainment industry, as the Cannes Film Festival nears its close.
What More Cannes I Say?
Stand up for the standouts: After a quiet opening, the Cannes Film Festival received a shot of life as several buzzy titles finally hit the screen. The excitement on the ground began with The Substance, the much-anticipated blood-splattered horror thriller from French director Coralie Fargeat, which was met with a 13-minute ovation, the longest for a title at this year’s festival until Gilles Lellouche’s Beating Hearts (L’Amour Ouf) took that crown last night. Fargeat’s pic, which stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid, is a punk rock fable centered around a new product called The Substance that promises to transform people into the best version of themselves. It’s an offer that comes with a twist.
What More Cannes I Say?
Stand up for the standouts: After a quiet opening, the Cannes Film Festival received a shot of life as several buzzy titles finally hit the screen. The excitement on the ground began with The Substance, the much-anticipated blood-splattered horror thriller from French director Coralie Fargeat, which was met with a 13-minute ovation, the longest for a title at this year’s festival until Gilles Lellouche’s Beating Hearts (L’Amour Ouf) took that crown last night. Fargeat’s pic, which stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid, is a punk rock fable centered around a new product called The Substance that promises to transform people into the best version of themselves. It’s an offer that comes with a twist.
- 5/24/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light joins Sean Baker’s Anora at the top of Screen’s Cannes jury grid while Gilles Lellouche’s Beating Hearts lands bottom of the pack.
Kapadia’s debut fiction scored 3.3 from the critics including six four stars (excellent), equalling that of Anora. The Indian drama, the first from the country to compete at Cannes in over 30 years, received a further four three stars (good) and two two stars (average).
Click on the image above for the most up-to-date version of the grid.
All We Imagine As Light centres on two nurses with...
Kapadia’s debut fiction scored 3.3 from the critics including six four stars (excellent), equalling that of Anora. The Indian drama, the first from the country to compete at Cannes in over 30 years, received a further four three stars (good) and two two stars (average).
Click on the image above for the most up-to-date version of the grid.
All We Imagine As Light centres on two nurses with...
- 5/24/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mohammad Rasoulof has arrived. The dissident Iranian director is at the Cannes Film Festival to present his new film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, in competition, just weeks after he dramatically escaped Iran on foot, fleeing an eight-year prison sentence.
Details of the director’s harrowing escape were made public last week after he was safely away, ensconced in an undisclosed location in Germany. He made the decision to leave, to abandon his homeland and walk across the mountainous borderland after the authorities sentenced him to a lengthy prison term.
His sentence also included a fine, the confiscation of property, and a flogging as punishment for bottles of wine the police discovered during a raid on his apartment.
Rasoulof had been arrested and imprisoned in Tehran’s notorious Evin jail in July 2022 for signing a petition calling on security forces to “Lay Down Your Arms” and exercise restraint in response to street protests.
Details of the director’s harrowing escape were made public last week after he was safely away, ensconced in an undisclosed location in Germany. He made the decision to leave, to abandon his homeland and walk across the mountainous borderland after the authorities sentenced him to a lengthy prison term.
His sentence also included a fine, the confiscation of property, and a flogging as punishment for bottles of wine the police discovered during a raid on his apartment.
Rasoulof had been arrested and imprisoned in Tehran’s notorious Evin jail in July 2022 for signing a petition calling on security forces to “Lay Down Your Arms” and exercise restraint in response to street protests.
- 5/24/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
After a perilous 28-day journey fleeing Iran and setting foot in Germany, Mohammad Rasoulof has finally made it to Cannes, safe for now and cautiously eager for the premiere of his fourth Cannes feature, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” announced by the festival a month ago as a late addition to the Competition.
The last images he takes away from his home — after just having two hours to make the monumental decision whether to be re-incarcerated for a harsh sentence that might still be extended, or to join the constellation of Iranian artists in potentially permanent exile — are the plants and flowers in his apartment, which he worried would have no caretaker. There was also a certain imposing mountain that he can view from his window. It’s there he can see the wall of Evin Prison, where he was last incarcerated in 2022 after speaking out against the government...
The last images he takes away from his home — after just having two hours to make the monumental decision whether to be re-incarcerated for a harsh sentence that might still be extended, or to join the constellation of Iranian artists in potentially permanent exile — are the plants and flowers in his apartment, which he worried would have no caretaker. There was also a certain imposing mountain that he can view from his window. It’s there he can see the wall of Evin Prison, where he was last incarcerated in 2022 after speaking out against the government...
- 5/23/2024
- by Ritesh Mehta
- Indiewire
Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof a few days ago absconded from his country with a heavy heart after being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court for making his latest film, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”
Ironically, the groundbreaking drama is centered on an investigating judge operating within the same judicial system that has been heavily harassing the film’s producers and actors, and that intended to put Rasoulof behind bars.
Having made the tough decision of escaping his beloved homeland, Rasoulof – who is among Iran’s most prominent directors – prepares to attend the film’s world premiere at Cannes on Friday.
Prior to the timely drama’s bow, Rasoulof spoke to Variety about his drive to keep making movies about Iran that speak truth to power — regardless of the consequences — and expressed his firm conviction that the fiercely repressive Iranian regime is on its last legs.
Ironically, the groundbreaking drama is centered on an investigating judge operating within the same judicial system that has been heavily harassing the film’s producers and actors, and that intended to put Rasoulof behind bars.
Having made the tough decision of escaping his beloved homeland, Rasoulof – who is among Iran’s most prominent directors – prepares to attend the film’s world premiere at Cannes on Friday.
Prior to the timely drama’s bow, Rasoulof spoke to Variety about his drive to keep making movies about Iran that speak truth to power — regardless of the consequences — and expressed his firm conviction that the fiercely repressive Iranian regime is on its last legs.
- 5/23/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
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