‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ Review: Exiled Iranian Director Shows A Conservative Family Split Apart By Protests In Heartfelt, Politically Fiery Melodrama – Cannes Film Festival

UPDATE: Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power actress Nazanin Boniadi has taken to social to explain why she’s not coming back for season 2 in the role of human healer Bronwyn.

Nazanin Boniadi is not returning for the upcoming second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Warner Bros. TV is in very early development on a TV series based on the hit 2006 Warner Bros. action movie 300, sources tell Deadline. Storyline or plot details are not known, but it is believed to be a prequel to the film.

Marta Balaga 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.

“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.

Ellise Shafer 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.

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.

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.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic 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).

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.

Canadian director Matthew Rankin’s Persian and French-language drama Universal Language has won the inaugural Audience Award of Directors’ Fortnight.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent 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.

The Directors Guild of America is standing in solidarity with Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof who had fled authoritarian Iran, and is currently at the Cannes Film Festival with his competition title The Seed of the Sacred Fig.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof will be attending the Cannes world premiere of his latest work, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” having traveled to Europe clandestinely after receiving an eight-year prison sentence from the country’s authorities for making the film. Rasoulof decided to leave Iran illegally and arrived in Europe a few days ago, shortly after being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court.

Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof will attend Friday’s Cannes screening of his competition movie The Seed of the Sacred Fig.

Marta Balaga International filmmakers are calling for solidarity with Mohammad Rasoulof and persecuted filmmakers in Iran in an open letter, shared with Variety. Rasoulof – about to screen his latest film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in Cannes’ main competition – was sentenced to imprisonment and torture by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

EXCLUSIVE: Altered Innocence has picked up all North American rights to Iranian filmmaker Kaveh Daneshmand’s first feature film Endless Summer Syndrome which debuted last year at Tallinn Black Nights before playing Raindance, Goa IFF, and Fantaspoa. 

K.J. Yossman An epic drama series about Iran’s last monarchy is in the works, Variety has learned. Inspired by “The Crown,” Netflix’s sweeping dramatization of the British royal family, “The Last Shah” is set to span four decades beginning during World War II, when the young monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, ascended to the throne, and ending in 1979 with the Islamic Revolution and U.S.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed the first international sales for Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival. The film has been acquired in Italy by BiM Distribuzione and Lucky Red, Benelux by September Film Distribution, Spain by Bteam Pictures, Greece by Ama Films, Hungary by Cirko Film, Norway by Selmer Media, Portugal by Leopardo Filmes, Taiwan by Hooray Films and Turkey by Bir Film.

Selena Kuznikov Neon has acquired the North American rights to “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” directed by Mohammad Rasoulof. The thriller is set to premiere In Competition in Cannes on May 24, and marks Rasoulof’s first return to the Cannes Film Festival, after being barred from traveling.