“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is fiction, but at times it resembles a documentary about recent political turmoil. Rasoulof incorporates actual cellphone footage of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” activism that swept the nation that year. Iman’s daughters, a watchful 20-something and a free-spirited teenager, view social media clips of demonstrators marching in the streets as well as graphic videos of the brutal police crackdown that followed.
Rasoulof and his creative collaborators made the film clandestinely, with the cast and crew fearing arrest, he said. Rasoulof and his technicians used minimal equipment and only a handful of shooting locations, insistent on evading the strict censorship system. The paranoia at the heart of the “Sacred Fig” storyline sometimes mirrored the atmosphere on set, where the arrival of a stranger could spell doom for the filmmakers.
“It was inescapable. It’s only natural to be afraid when you’re filming that way,” Rasoulof said.
Rasoulof received the initial notice about his prison sentence four weeks after shooting began. He chose to continue filming while his lawyers filed an appeal. The court system ultimately rejected that appeal and reaffirmed his penalties around the time filming concluded, according to his lawyer. Rasoulof needed to decide on his next move. He had the phone number of a person he met in prison who had offered to help him flee Iran, if it ever came to that. He made the call.
“I had to take a new path, he said. “I abandoned my electronics and equipment, packed a small bag with just a few clothes, and left.”
Rasoulof cannot go into great detail. “It was a really dangerous and horrible journey,” involving “a lot of walking” through perilous undisclosed territory, he said. Twenty-eight days after he set out, Rasoulof found a safe harbor at the consulate in Germany and obtained documents that allowed him to move with relative ease in Europe. He announced the news of his escape on Instagram, sharing a video of snow-capped mountains.
Two weeks after Rasoulof’s daring exit, on May 24, “Sacred Fig” premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival — in the face of intense resistance from Iranian authorities. Rasoulof, walking the Cannes red carpet, displayed photos of lead actors Missagh Zareh and Soheila Golestani, who have faced pressure from the courts in Iran, according to the director.
The film received a 12-minute standing ovation, won the Special Jury Prize and earned Rasoulof some of the best reviews of his already acclaimed career.
“Sacred Fig” is now Germany’s entry for best international feature at the 97th Academy Awards in early March.
The film arrives in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles courtesy of Neon, the distributor behind recent art-house favorites such as “Anora,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Parasite.” Rasoulof said he hopes American viewers who seek out his latest project come away with a more complete, less blinkered idea of contemporary Iran beyond what they might hear from Washington politicians.
“I’d like them to take away the notion — the truth, the reality — that Iran and the Islamic Republic are not the same,” Rasoulof said. “In no way does the Islamic Republic represent the Iranian people or Iranian culture. It’s a minority that has not only occupied but also taken hostage a whole country and a whole people.”
“Iranian people do not want this to continue. Iranian women, throughout their long struggle for freedom — which began a long time ago and which shall continue — are trying in every way they can to change the situation,” he added. “The young generation of Iran really wants peaceful and positive relations with the rest of the world. They want to be a part of the global community.”
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