Special Jury Prize at Cannes: The Seed of the Wild Fig Tree, a film about the Iranian resistance

A film made on current events…

On September 16, 2022, in Iran, Mahsa Amin was subjected to a crackdown by the morality police for not wearing the veil “correctly”. Her death sparked a wave of popular protests that ignited the country, and from these demonstrations the Women, Life, Freedom movement was born. It is in this context that Mohammad Rasulof’s new film stands.

Iman, the father, is promoted to investigative judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. Despite the absurdity of the system and its injustice, he chooses to obey it. At home, his two daughters, Rezwani and Sana, support the protests, while his wife, Najmeh, mediates between both camps.

The balance of the family is threatened the day Iman’s service revolver goes off, leading to a crescendo of paranoia until it culminates in the film’s final half hour, turning the feature into a thriller full of powerful symbolism.

… a victim of censorship

The Cannes prize winner, Seed of the Wild Fig Tree, which opens in cinemas this week, received the Special Jury Prize, a powerful symbol and an opportunity for cinematographer Mohamed Rasoulof to reaffirm his activism by addressing political and social contexts. his country

“The current Iranian regime remains in power only by violence against its own people,” says the director. In this sense, the gun in my film is a metaphor for power in a broad sense. It also allows the characters to reveal their secrets, which gradually emerge with tragic consequences. »

In 2017, Mohamed Rasoulof received the Cannes Grand Prix for his feature film A Man of Integrity, which he also presented at the Telluride Film Festival. After returning from America, the filmmaker’s passport was confiscated and he was deprived of freedom of travel and work. After multiple interrogations, he was sentenced in July 2019 to a year in prison, followed by a two-year ban on leaving the country and the forfeiture of any social and political activities.

In absolute secrecy, he directed There Is No Devil, a complaint against the death penalty that won the prestigious Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlinale for “propaganda” in prison.

In May 2024, he secretly left Iran to immigrate to Europe, and at the same time presented his new film, also shot secretly, in competition at Cannes: The Seed of the Wild Fig Tree.

Mohammad Rasoulof had to shoot his latest feature film in secret from the Iranian authorities and surround himself with a team that shared the same faith, knowing the risks. It reunites two actors, Misagh Zare (Iman) and Reza Akhlagirad (Ghaderi), with whom he worked on “Man of Honesty”. The mother (Najmeh) is played by the excellent Soheila Golestan, who took a strong stand in favor of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, which landed her in prison.

For the role of two sisters, the filmmaker did not want to hire teenage girls who did not know the risks they were taking. Setareh Maleki (Sana) and Mahsa Rostami (Rezvan) are relatively far removed from their roles in terms of age, which is not at all noticeable on screen, as their acting is impressively accurate.

Remarkable in its aesthetic wisdom and story-building, poignant and full of subtlety, The Seed of the Wild Fig Tree sees its status as a masterpiece confirmed by the courage it took to create it.

When violence enters the intimate

The story, dense and intense, is interspersed with documentary images of incredible power, images of women and men of the movement being mistreated and shot by police officers who have the power of life or death over the demonstrators, thus amplifying the power of the statement. While their mother watches Islamic Republic propaganda on television, Rezwan and Sana hide to watch videos of the protests, which show a glaring generational divide.

We see the intrusion of the Iranian regime into the private lives of a family whose women gradually raise their voices against the patriarchal logic embedded in every word and gesture. It is no longer a matter of “killing the father” to free the family home, but of standing up to him to destroy the entire violent religious institution.

“Seeds containing bird droppings fall on other trees. They sprout in the interstices of the branches and the sprouting roots grow towards the ground, says the director. New branches emerge and wrap around the trunk of the host tree until it strangles it. The wild fig tree finally stands, freed from its roots. »

Through this film, whose beauty matches its political significance, Mohammad Rasoulof also plants a seed of hope in the minds of those who see it and gives hope to the Iranian people, whose desire for emancipation is growing stronger.

Seed of the Wild Fig Tree hits theaters this week.