Mohammad Rasoulof’s Cannes Prizewinner ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ Lures International Buyers, Including for the U.K., Japan and Germany (EXCLUSIVE)
29.05.2024 - 16:27
/ variety.com
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off the Cannes Film Festival where it won several awards, Mohammad Rasoulof‘s “The Seed of The Sacred Fig” has been acquired by a flurry of high profile distributors in major international territories. Films Boutique, which represents the critically acclaimed political drama globally, has sold it to Lionsgate for the U.K.
and Ireland; Gaga Corporation in Japan; Alamode in Germany and Austria; as well as Sharmill Films in Australia and New Zealand; Triart Film in Sweden. The rest of the deals signed by Films Boutique off of Cannes include Camera Film in Denmark, Trigon in Switzerland, M2 Films in Poland, Green Narae in South Korea, New Cinema in Israel, Impacto Cine in Latin America, Film Europe in Czech Republic and Slovakia, Edko Films in Hong Kong, Cinemanse in Finland, Kino Pavasaris in the Baltic territories, MCF Megacom in Former Yugoslavia, Bad Unicorn in Romania, Beta Film in Bulgaria and Anticipate Pictures in Singapore.
Rasoulof attended the Cannes Film Festival at great personal risk, fleeing an eight-year prison sentence for making “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” The film, which was acquired by Neon for North American distribution ahead of its world premiere, explores the country’s recent Women, Life, Freedom movement through a middle-class family whose two daughters question their father’s role in the regime. Along with a Special Prize from the jury, the movie won the Fipresci prize, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, the Prize of the French independent cinemas (“Prix des cinémas Art et Essai”), the François Chalais Prize.