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Here’s Where You Can Stream The Seed of the Sacred Fig In India! ( Photo Credit – Facebook )

Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s widely acclaimed political drama The Seed of the Sacred Fig premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in May 2024, followed by its theatrical release in France and Germany later that year. The Persian-language film was nominated for the coveted Palme d’Or Award at Cannes.

Besides, it also earned the distinction of getting nominated for the Best International Feature Film at the Oscars, but lost to the Portuguese political drama I’m Still Here. After a long wait, the movie has finally started streaming on an Indian Ott platform.

Where To Watch The Seed Of The Sacred Fig In India?

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is now streaming on the Amazon Prime Video Ott platform in India.

Trending This Netflix Sci-Fi Comedy With A 97% Score Is A Hidden Gem – Season 4 Drops Soon!

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof watched “There Is No Evil” with his own prison guards “seven nights in a row,” he recalled at Goteborg.

“I was still bound to the bed and they were complimenting me: ‘Well done for making such a wonderful film!’ The problem started when new guards came in the next day, and they wanted to watch it with me as well.”

It all went down when Rasoulof, who was experiencing health problems following his arrest, needed an operation. Multiple prison guards were making sure he couldn’t escape the hospital.

“After a while, one of them came and said: ‘I heard you are a film director. Is it ok if we took a selfie together?’ Then other guards took turns, coming into the room and taking selfies with me.” They’d heard about “There Is No Evil,” he said.

One of the film’s episodes depicts a...

Mohammad Rasoulof says guards in Iran asked him for selfies and to watch his films with him, when he was tied to a bed in a prison hospital.

Speaking at Goteborg Film Festival after the Swedish premiere of his Oscar-nominated The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, Rasoulof related a story from his time in Iranian prison. The director received one-year sentences in both 2019 and 2020 for what Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court described as “propaganda against the system”.

During his imprisonment Rasoulof required an operation, which is only allowed for Iranian prisoners if family members find a hospital willing to carry out the procedure.

Acclaimed Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof will attend the upcoming 2025 Göteborg Film Festival with his latest film, family drama and political thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Germany’s submission to this year’s international feature Oscar race which made the Oscar shortlist on Dec. 17.

Variety rates the film, which he also wrote and co-produced, as one of the five frontrunners in the international feature category to score an Oscar nomination on Jan. 17.

“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” has also scored Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations for foreign-language film, and won the National Board of Review’s best international film award.

Banned in Rasoulof’s home country, the film has already garnered international recognition for its poignant narrative and exploration of political themes. Rasoulof, who currently lives in exile in Germany after being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging by the Iranian regime as he wrapped “Sacred Fig,...

Catching up to three big name festival films that opened Wednesday at the specialty box office to start the extended U.S. Thanksgiving holiday weekend – Luca Guadagnino’s Queer from A24 starring 007 Daniel Craig; Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín’s Maria from Netflix, both of which premiered at Venice; and Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, which won a clutch of awards Cannes including a Special Jury Award.

All three are in limited release (Maria the widest) in the midst of a great, big busy few weeks at the box office with Moana 2 setting records in the wake of Wicked and Gladiator II. Indies are good counter-programming but face massive competition and have a hard time finding screens. If the box office continues to boom with big budget studio fare it will become clearer in the weeks and months ahead whether that lifts all boats,...

Boys Will Be Boyz

Sky Documentaries has unveiled plans for “Boyzone,” a three-part documentary series that will examine the trials and tribulations of Irish boyband and 1990s pop sensation Boyzone.

“For the first time in 30 years, band members Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch and Michael Graham grant rare and exclusive interview access [..] revealing their personal experiences in a band that sold over 25 million records worldwide, the boys also talk candidly about how they grappled with the true cost of global fame,” Sky said. “They confront the strained relationships and tragic events that have had a lasting impact on all their lives, families and friendships.”

“The documentary examines the key events that shaped Boyzone, including the highs and lows of global stardom, the intense tabloid intrusion in 1990’s Britain forcing Stephen Gately to come out, and after a sensational comeback in 2007, a devastating tragedy struck the band, as Gately died.

Dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who fled his native Iran earlier this year, has been named president of the New Currents jury at the upcoming Busan International Film Festival (Biff).

The jury for the competitive New Currents section will also comprise Korean director Lee Myung Se, Chinese actress Zhou Dongyu, Indian actress Kani Kusruti and International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) festival director Vanya Kaludjercic.

The New Currents strand of Biff includes first or second films by emerging Asian filmmakers and the jurors will select two winning features, which will each receive a prize of $30,000.

Whether Rasoulof will make it to the...

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.

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...

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).…...

“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!

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,...

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.

On Friday Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof will debut his latest feature The Seed of the Sacred Fig in Cannes after fleeing his home country through what he described to Deadline as a “complicated” and “anguishing” journey across Europe to a safe house in Germany.

Rasoulof spoke to us this morning on the ground in Cannes, where he covertly arrived earlier this week. Back in Iran, the filmmaker 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.”

“I was in the middle of shooting The Seed of the Sacred Fig when I found out that my prison sentence was confirmed. I knew I would be arrested and, of course, it’s very hard to go on working when you have this idea in your mind,” Rasoulof told us.

Rasoulof appealed his...

Dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has revealed he had just a two-hour window to decide whether to remain in Iran and face arrest or flee the country to ensure his freedom.

Speaking to Screen from Cannes, where his latest feature The Seed Of The Sacred Fig is set to world premiere in Competition tomorrow (May 24), the Iranian auteur looked relieved to have secured his own safety but was reflective on the society he had left behind and his own future as a filmmaker.

“I was left with no other option,” said Rasoulof, who was sentenced to eight years in prison and...

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.

“The Directors Guild of America strongly supports Director Mohammad Rasoulof in his flight from unjust sentencing and we stand in solidarity with him as he seeks safe harbor. No Director should fear imprisonment, physical punishment, or fines for exercising their right to express themselves artistically,” said DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter.

“It is imperative that filmmakers be allowed to freely pursue their calling without fear of persecution. Creative freedom is crucial to liberty, art, culture and human rights, and we stand together with the world’s film community to protect this fundamental right and support Director Mohammad Rasoulof in his fight for freedom of expression.”

The DGA’s statement comes in the wake...

In a surprising announcement, 51-year-old Iranian film director Mohammad Rasoulof will attend the premiere of “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” on Friday. The movie has one of the final competition slots and, unless it is an absolute dud, is a guarantee for one of the top awards considering the political statement it makes. As a direct result of making the movie, Rasoulof was sentenced to eight years in prison, had his property removed, and was due to receive a flogging. He fled the country on foot and is now somewhere in Europe.

Rasoulof, whose previous work includes “Manuscripts Don’t Burn,” “A Man of Integrity,” which won the top prize at Cannes’s Un Certain Regard sidebar, and “There Is No Evil,” which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. All of his films are critical of contemporary Iranian society, with “There Is No Evil,” about capital punishment,...

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

Rasoulof announced last week that he had left Iran and was staying in what he described as an “undisclosed location in Europe” in a statement shared with the international press.

Rasoulof’s reps confirmed to Deadline that he will attend the screening on Friday.

News of Rasoulof’s journey to Europe came a week after his lawyer confirmed that Iranian authorities had handed the filmmaker an eight-year prison sentence for “signing statements and making films and documentaries.” Days after the sentence was announced, The Seed Of The Sacred Fig was handed a competition spot at Cannes.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is about an investigating judge in Tehran who grapples with paranoia as nationwide political protests intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears.

Rasoulof has been in the crosshairs...

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. Iranian authorities also pressured the director to pull “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from the Cannes Film Festival and harassed the film’s producers and actors.

“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is screening at Cannes in competition on May 24 with Rasoulof in attendance, the film’s publicist confirmed.

“The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” according to the synopsis provided by sales company Films Boutique, centers on Iman — an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in...

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. He fled the country.

“We condemn the inhumane treatment of Rasoulof and numerous other independent artists in Iran, who are being severely punished, criminalized and silenced for exercising their artistic freedom,” it was stated in the letter, already signed by “Holy Spider” star Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Fatih Akin, Atom Egoyan, Ildiko Enyedi, Andrew Haigh, Agnieszka Holland, Laura Poitras, Sandra Hüller, Sean Baker, Payal Kapadia and Ariane Labed.

“We stand in full solidarity with Rasoulof’s demands and call upon the international film community to raise our voices against an Islamist dictatorship that systematically oppresses every aspect of their society’s lives.

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. The rights for France were previously taken by Pyramide and for North America by Neon.

Negotiations are underway for the rights in Germany and Austria, Switzerland, Latin America, the Baltics, Denmark, former Yugoslavia, the Indian subcontinent, Poland and Sweden.

It was revealed on Monday that Rasoulof had left Iran and traveled to Europe clandestinely after being sentenced to eight years in prison by the country’s authorities,...

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. Neon is planning a North American theatrical release later this year.

The film — which stars Setareh Abdolmaleki, Zahra Rostami, Amineh Mazroei Arani and Niousha AkhshiVardoogh — follows Iman, an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, who grapples with mistrust and paranoia as nationwide political protests intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears. Suspecting the involvement of his wife Najmeh and his daughters Rezvan and Sana, he imposes drastic measures at home, causing tensions to rise.

The deal was negotiated by Neon’s VP of Acquisitions Sarah Colvin with Films Boutique / Parallel 45’s Jean-Christophe Simon and Film Boutique’s Julien Razafindranaly on behalf of the filmmakers.

Neon has acquired the North American rights to “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” the newest film from Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof. The movie will debut at Cannes on May 24.

The company snagged the rights after a competitive bidding war for the movie, which stars Setareh Abdolmaleki, Zahra Rostami, Amineh Mazroei Arani, and Niousha AkhshiVardoogh.

“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” tells the story of Iman, an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, who struggles with mistrust and paranoia as nationwide political protests intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears. Suspecting the involvement of his wife Najmeh and his daughters Rezvan and Sana, he imposes drastic measures at home, causing tensions to rise. Step by step, social norms and the rules of family life are being suspended.

The movie is produced by Rasoulof, Amin Sadraei, Mani Tilgner, Rozita Hendijanian, Jean-Christophe Simon, and co-produced by Arte France Cinéma with the...

Neon has grabbed North American rights to The Seed of the Sacred Fig, the latest film from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof.

The thriller is set to debut in competition in Cannes on May 24 and marks Rasoulof’s first return to Cannes after being barred from traveling to serve on last year’s Un Certain Regard jury by Iranian officials. The film stars Setareh Abdolmaleki, Zahra Rostami, Amineh Mazroei Arani, and Niousha AkhshiVardoogh. Neon has said it is planning a North American theatrical release in 2024.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig follows Iman, an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, who grapples with mistrust and paranoia as nationwide political protests intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears. Suspecting the involvement of his wife Najmeh and his daughters Rezvan and Sana, he imposes drastic measures at home, causing tensions to rise. Step by step,...

Mohammad Rasoulof has fled Iran less than a week after his home country sentenced him to eight years in prison and flogging. The Iranian filmmaker, who won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival for “There Is No Evil,” has a film in competition at Cannes this year for the first time: “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” It’s set to premiere next week toward the end of the festival, with the director’s attendance still unknown. The film, made in secret, was added to the lineup last month. Rasoulof’s fleeing raises the question of whether he will actually be able to attend the festival after all.

In a press statement issued from an undisclosed location, Rasoulof described the repression of his team in Iran while asking the international film community for “effective support.” See the full statement, dated May 12, below.

In addition to the eight-year prison sentence and flogging,...

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has left Iran and traveled to Europe clandestinely after being sentenced to eight years in prison by the country’s authorities, who pressured him to pull his latest work “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from the Cannes Film Festival and harassed the film’s producers and actors.

“We are very happy and much relieved that Mohammad has safely arrived in Europe after a dangerous journey,” said Jean-Christophe Simon, CEO of Films Boutique and Parallel45, who are distributing the film. “We hope he will be able to attend the Cannes premiere of ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ in spite of all attempts to prevent him from being there in person.”

However, it remains unclear whether Rasoulof will be able to attend the Cannes world premiere of “Sacred Fig” on May 24, his Cannes publicist and French distributor also noted.

Rasoulov is among Iran’s most prominent...

Dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has fled Iran after receiving a hefty prison sentence and called for support from the international film community, ahead of the premiere of his latest feature in Competition at Cannes.

The Iranian auteur has issued a statement for the first time since receiving a sentence of eight years in prison, flogging, a fine and confiscation of his property. The sentence was imposed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court for public statements, films and documentaries made by Rasoulof, which it considers “examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country’s security”.

It...

Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has left Iran and is currently staying in what he described as an “undisclosed location in Europe” in a statement shared with the international press this afternoon.

“I arrived in Europe a few days ago after a long and complicated journey,” Rasoulof said in the statement, which you can read in full below.

News of Rasoulof’s journey comes a week after his lawyer confirmed that Iranian authorities had handed the filmmaker an eight-year prison sentence for “signing statements and making films and documentaries.” Days after the sentence was announced, Rasoulof’s latest film The Seed Of The Sacred Fig was handed a competition spot at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

“I strongly object to the unjust recent ruling against me that forces me into exile. However, the judicial system of the Islamic Republic has issued so many cruel and strange decisions that I...

Just days before he’d premiere his new film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, director Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging in Iran. He’ll also be subjected to a fine and the confiscation of property. The filmmaker has run afoul of the theocratic government there for years, and there’s some indication the timing of this extremely harsh sentence is coercion to remove the film from the festival altogether.

It’s easy to see why the authoritarian regime might be scared of Rasoulof’s latest work. “The Seed of the Sacred Fig Tree” is literally about a judge for the Revolutionary Court in Tehran dealing with the fallout from the nationwide protests that have swept the country in recent years, and he particularly succumbs to paranoia when his gun disappears.

The 51-year-old director has been hit with a severe sentence,...

Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to eight years in prison, flogging, a fine and confiscation of his property, according to his lawyer.

Posting today on social media platform X, human rights lawyer Babak Paknia, who represents the filmmaker, said the Islamic Revolutionary Court had issued the verdict.

“The main reason for issuing this sentence is signing statements and making films and documentaries, which, according to the court, are examples of collusion and collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country’s security,” he said

Iranian authorities had reportedly been putting pressure on Rasoulof to pull...

Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to eight years in prison as well as flogging, a fine and confiscation of his property, his lawyer Babak Paknia announced in a post on X on Wednesday.

“The main reason for issuing this sentence is for signing statements and making films and documentaries. In the court’s opinion, these actions were examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country’s security,” wrote Paknia.

News of Rasoulof’s sentencing follows in the wake of reports that the director had come under pressure from the Iranian authorities to withdraw his upcoming film The Seed of the Sacred Fig Tree from the Cannes Film Festival where it is due to world premiere in Competition.

Rasoulof has been in the crosshairs of Iran’s hardline Islamic Republic government throughout his career for challenging its authoritarian rule.

In his latest brush with Iran’s hardline regime,...

Berlin-based Films Boutique has secured world sales rights to Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed Of The Sacred Fig ahead of its premiere in Competition at Cannes, and has closed a distribution deal in France.

The latest feature by the Iranian auteur, who has faced censorship challenges in Iran for nearly 20 years, has been sold to Pyramide Distribution for release in France.

The story centres on Iman, an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, who grapples with mistrust and paranoia as nationwide political protests intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears. Suspecting the involvement of his wife Najmeh and his daughters Rezvan and Sana,...

Iranian authorities are exerting heavy pressure on director Mohammad Rasoulof to pull his latest work “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from the Cannes Film Festival by harassing the film’s producers and actors who have been summoned for questioning and banned from leaving the country.

Human rights lawyer Babak Paknia, who is Rasoulof’s lawyer, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that several unspecified actors and producers on “Sacred Fig” were summoned and questioned last week by authorities. He added that Iran’s authorities also pressured them to convince Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival.

Furthermore, “Some of the film’s actors have been banned from leaving, and according to their statements, after several hours of interrogation, they were asked to ask the director to remove the film from the Cannes festival,” Paknia said in the X post on Tuesday.

Rasoulof’s lawyer...

Iranian authorities have prohibited actors and crew from Mohammed Rasoulof’s The Seed Of The Sacred Fig from leaving the country to attend the Cannes Film Festival, where the feature is set to play in Competition.

The unnamed actors and producers were summoned and questioned by authorities over the past week, according to lawyer Babak Paknia, who posted details on social media platform X. He said they were also pressured to convince Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival.

“Some of the film’s actors have been banned from leaving, and according to their statements, after several hours of interrogation,...

After announcing a whopping number of English-language films in competition, Cannes Film Festival has added some international titles: Michel Hazanavicius’ animated feature “The Most Precious of Cargoes” and Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Variety has learned.

An auteur-driven allegorical feature, “The Most Precious of Cargoes” (first-look still below) is adapted from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling novel of the same name, set during World War II against the backdrop of the Holocaust. It will be the first animated feature to compete in more than a decade, since Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir” in 2008.

The film is co-produced and represented internationally by Studiocanal, which also has Gilles Lellouche’s “Beating Hearts” in competition. “The Most Precious of Cargoes” is a passion project for Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “The Artist,” who has been developing the project for years. Hazanavicius penned the script with Grumberg and created the drawings,...

Exclusive: Big World Pictures has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights from Paris-based sales firm Charades to Giacomo Abbruzzese’s debut feature, Disco Boy.

Winner of the Berlinale’s Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution earlier this year, the largely French-language film stars rising German actor Franz Rogowski as a Belarusian immigrant haunted by his actions as a mercenary in the French Foreign Legion. Above is an English-language trailer for the movie.

An early 2024 theatrical release is being lined up following fall festival play. France’s Films Grand Huit produces.

Rogowski is best known for Ira Sachs’ Passages, Christian Petzold’s Transit and Sebastian Meise’s Great Freedom. Upcoming he will star in Andrea Arnold’s Bird and David Michôd and A24’s Wizards!.

In Disco Boy, Rogowski plays Aleksei, who reaches Paris following a difficult and undocumented journey across Europe. In Paris he enlists in the French Foreign Legion,...

Leading lights of contemporary Iranian cinema, including “Holy Spider” actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi, “The Siren” director Sepideh Farsi, “The Opponent” helmer Milad Alami and producer Kaveh Farnam, turned up at the Cannes Film Festival to raise the alarm on the repression faced by Iranian cinema during a session hosted by Amazon Prime Video’s Sahar Baghery.

Iran has been the centerstage of widespread protests driven by women against the Islamic regime since Mahsa Amini died in police custody for for wearing her hijab too loosely in September 2022. Although the rebellion has garnered vocal support outside of Iran, it hasn’t succeeded in dethroning the Iranian regime. A number of dissident Iranian filmmakers and talent have been jailed over the last six months, notably Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof who was recently released from prison. Rasoulof was nevertheless banned from leaving Iran to serve on the jury of Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

The winds of change are sweeping Iran as the ‘Woman Life Freedom’ protests, provoked by the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September, continue. Here, four Iranian disruptors talk about their struggles, their acts of solidarity for the pro-democracy movement, and their hopes for the future of their country.

Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi

Marjane Satrapi, who was 9 years old when Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in 1979, recalls taking to the streets with her politically active parents to protest against the imposition of the hijab. “My mum went to demonstrate, and I went too, and so did my dad,” recalls the graphic novelist and filmmaker. “He was one of the very few men; they didn’t understand at the time that women’s rights are society’s rights.”

Satrapi’s parents sent her to Europe to study as a teenager and encouraged her to make her permanent home there. Satrapi captured...

The Amsterdam-based International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (Icfr) has called on Iran to lift a travel ban on director Mohammad Rasoulof.

News broke this week that the filmmaker had been invited to participate in Cannes’s Un Certain Regard jury but had to decline the offer after being refused permission to leave Iran.

Rasoulof confirmed these facts to Deadline and said Iranian authorities had given no reason for the decision.

A few days earlier, friend and fellow dissident director Jafar Panahi left Iran for the first time in 14 years on a one-week trip to France to see his daughter. He has since returned home.

In a statement bannered “Let Mohammad Rasoulof Go!”, Icfr noted the different treatment meted out to the two directors.

“Both have repeatedly gotten into conflict with the Iranian authorities, had their passports confiscated and been jailed. Now one can travel, the other not,” read the statement.

The strike has begun, Insiders. The industrial action, the first in the U.S. since 2007-08, dominated news coverage in film and TV this week but there’s been plenty more going around the world. Jesse Whittock here to take you through. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter here.

Strike, Camera, Action! Queen Charlotte

Shows of solidarity: The moment is upon us. Following several weeks of failed negotiations, the WGA is striking for the first time in 15 years over issues including compensation and streaming residuals, mini-rooms, late-night streaming shows and pensions. As writers across the U.S. hit the picket lines, attention here at Deadline International has been focused on the ripple effects being felt globally. Multiple writers unions around the world were swift in their shows of support. Australian, Canadian and UK guilds have already urged their own writers to down tools and refuse to work on U.

Mohammad Rasoulof revealed he was invited to serve on the 2023 Cannes Un Certain Regard jury but was forced to turn down the spot due to a travel ban from his home nation of Iran.

Per Radio France Internationale (Rfi), Rasoulof was prevented from leaving Iran to attend the French festival. Rfi also reported that Cannes organizers are still trying to provide conditions for Rasoulof to be in attendance. The director formerly received the Best Director award in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in 2011 for “Goodbye” and won the Fipresci prize in 2013 for “Manuscripts Don’t Burn,” followed by the Un Certain Regard award for “A Man of Integrity” in 2017.

The 2023 Cannes Un Certain Regard jury will be overseen by jury president John C. Reilly and consists of French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actress Paula Beer, Franco-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou, and Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne.

Mohammad Rasoulof’s hopes to attend the Cannes Film Festival have been dashed.

The acclaimed Iranian director and dissident has been banned from leaving his home country in order to serve on the festival’s Un Certain Regard jury.

Read More: Iran Releases Oscar-Winning Film Actress Held Over Protests

According to The Hollywood Reporter, despite being granted a temporary release from prison in February due to ill health, Rasoulof is not being allowed to exit Iran.

The news comes after fellow director Jafar Panahi was allowed to leave the country for the first time in 14 years in order to visit his daughter in France.

Rasoulof is a prominent critic of the Iranian government, which has landed him in legal trouble for years, landing him in prison multiple times.

He has been banned from making movies, and for the last six years has been barred from travelling outside Iran.

Despite the legal troubles,...

Iranian director was released from jail in February.

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been prevented from leaving his home country to be a member of the Un Certain Regard jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

According to the Farsi service of Radio France International (Rfi), Cannes invited Rasoulof to join the Un Certain Regard jury following his release from jail in Tehran in February.

Rasoulof was jailed last year over an appeal he and documentary filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad posted on social media speaking out against the repression of civil protestors in the country.

Rfi said that Cannes had hoped that...

Acclaimed Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been prevented from leaving the country to attend the Cannes Film Festival to serve on the Un Certain Regard jury.

As first reported in the Farsi-language news service of Radio France Internationale (Rfi), Rasoulof had hoped to attend Cannes this year after Iranian authorities, in February, granted him a temporary release, after seven months imprisonment, from Tehran’s Evin prison due to ill health.

Rasoulof’s friend, and fellow dissident director Jafar Panahi, was allowed to leave Iran last week to travel abroad, for the first time in 14 years. He visited his daughter in France before returning to Iran.

Rasoulof, however, has not been let out.

The 50-year-old director is one of the most prominent critics of the Iranian regime and his public statements have landed him in prison several times over the years. He has been banned from making films and, for the past 6 years,...

He was arrested in July of last year.

Update: Mohammad Rasoulof is facing more charges in Iran following his release from prison yesterday.

He is still facing three charges which if he is found guilty on all three could lead to an eight-year sentence.

The charges relate to illegal assembly and collusion against national security, insulting the regime leadership, and spreading propaganda against the state.

Original story: Iranian Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been released from Tehran’s Evin Prison for an undisclosed period of time, according to local media reports.

Rasoulof, who won the Golden Bear at the...

He was arrested in July of last year.

Update: Mohammad Rasoulof is facing fresh charges in Iran following his release from prison yesterday.

He is still being held in the revolutionary court for three fresh charges relating to illegal assembly and collusion against national security, insulting the regime leadership, and spreading propaganda against the state, which are being argued against him. Rasoulouf will be sentenced to eight years in prison if found guilty.

Original story: Iranian Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been released from Tehran’s Evin Prison for an undisclosed period of time, according to local media reports.

He was arrested in July of last year.

Iranian Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been released from Tehran’s Evin Prison for an undisclosed period of time, according to local media reports.

Rasoulof, who won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlinale for There Is No Evil, was arrested in July of last year after speaking out on social media against the repression of civil protestors in the country.

Iranian documentary filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad was also arrested on this date.

After the collapse of a building in May in the Iranian city of Abadan prompted unrest and a violent crackdown by security forces,...

Dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose There Is No Evil won the 2020 Berlinale Golden Bear for best film, has been temporarily released from prison in Iran on medical grounds.

There Is No Evil producer Farzad Pak confirmed Rasoulof’s release to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Mohammad was released on bail for medical reasons [but] there are still other accusations [against him] that the course hasn’t made a decision on yet,” said Pak. “They [the court] might take him back [into jail] or leave him in limbo.”

Rasoulof was released Saturday and is currently resting at his home in Tehran. The director’s lawyer, Maryam Kianersi, told French News Agency Afpt that his incarceration has been suspended for two weeks.

Rasoulof was incarcerated last July after posting on social media calling on Iranian security forces to stop their violent attacks on protesters who were demonstrating in the southwestern city of Abadan. Shortly after his arrest, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old...

Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was released from prison over the weekend, according to Iranian news outlets.

Rasoulof, who won the Berlinale Golden Bear in 2020 for There Is No Evil, was arrested last July with fellow filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad.

He was detained after signing a petition titled ‘Lay Down Your Arms” calling on security forces to exercise restraint in relation to popular protests over a deadly building collapse.

Rasoulof was already on medical leave when news he was to be officially released on a temporary basis came through.

The director’s lawyer Maryam Kianersi who announced a two-week suspension of his sentence on January 11 for health reasons, told the French news agency Afp his release had been extended on a temporary basis.

There was no indication of how long Rasoulof would remain out of jail. There is no news on Al-Ahmad who was arrested at the same time as Rasoulof.

Mohammad Rasoulof, winner of the 2020 Berlin Golden Bear for “There Is No Evil,” has been temporarily released from Tehran’s Evin prison after being arrested last July for criticizing the government on social media.

Rasoulof, 50, was incarcerated on July 8 after posting an appeal urging Iranian security forces to stop using weapons during May protests that were prompted by a building collapse in the southwestern city of Abadan. He has now been released for health reasons and is at home, according to several reports confirmed by local sources.

But though he has been formally released, it’s not clear how long Rasoulof will remain a free man.

“My client’s incarceration has been suspended for two weeks for health reasons,” the director’s lawyer Maryam Kianersi told French news agency Afp, adding that he had been “released on Saturday.”

Iran’s Shargh newspaper, which is Iran’s leading reformist publication, reported...