A Film for Freedom

26 May 2024

The Seed of the Sacred Fig won the Cannes festival’s Special Jury Prize  and another four awards and will celebrate its German premiere at FILMFEST HAMBURG this autumn. One week ago, the recently reconvicted director Mohammad Rasoulof fled Iran and was able to present his film in person in Cannes last Friday to the great delight of the global film industry.

‘I’m really looking forward to coming back to Hamburg with my new film. The city is my second home and I have a close bond with FILMFEST HAMBURG. All my fiction films have been screened here, starting with Iron Island in 2005, ’ Mohammad Rasoulof says. 

‘We are very relieved that Mohammad Rasoulof will be coming back to Hamburg after his arduous escape from his country and congratulate him and his team on this well-earned award. With The Seed of the Sacred Fig, we are announcing our first film for this year’s festival edition and are delighted  that Mohammad Rasoulof will continue to be closely associated with our festival  and we will be screening his touching, courageous and highly topical film which was shot under extremely difficult conditions,’ FILMFEST HAMBURG director Malika Rabahallah says. 

In addition to the Special Jury Prize, The Seed of the Sacred Fig was presented with the FIPRESCI Award, the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, the “Prix François Chalais” and the “Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai”.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig centres on an investigating judge at the Tehran Revolutionary Court, who is faced with paranoia and mistrust in a country shaken by protests. The judge takes more and more drastic sanctions – even against his own family – and breaks social norms and the rules of family life.

The Iranian-German-French co-production (RunWay Pictures, Parallel 45, Arte France) was funded by MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein. The Hamburg editor Andrew Bird edited the film. The Hamburg-based  companies Optical Art and Loft Studios were both involved in post-production.

Photo: Film Boutique