CANNES.- He Cannes Festival received today -May 24- with a standing ovation director iran Mohammad Rasoulof, who fled his country after being sentenced to prison and lashings, when presenting his film in competition, The seed of the sacred fig.
Rasoulof fled his country after being sentenced to five years in prison and receiving lashes because of his previous film which, like all of his work, directly criticizes the regime’s repression.
The filmmaker announced last week that he had left the country clandestinely, on foot across the border with Turkey, a journey he described as exhausting and dangerous.
“When I was crossing the border, I turned around, I was on top of a mountain, and I took one last look at my homeland. I said to myself: ‘Go back,'” Rasoulof declared last night from Cannes on the program C Tonight.
“All the Iranians who had to leave due to this totalitarian regime always have a suitcase near them in the hope that things will improve and they can return,” added the director, sitting next to the actress Golshifteh Farahani, who would also go.
This actress, as well as others from the risky filming of The seed of the sacred fig They accompanied the director on the red carpet.
But the two main protagonists of the film were missing, who have been left behind, in Iran.
Rasoulof showed his photos at all times: they are the actor Missagh Zareh, who plays a judge, and Soheila Golestani, his wife in the film.
The applause was thunderous in the Lumire room, reserved for films in competition.
This premiere was one of the highlights of this edition of Cannes, a festival that prides itself on defending freedom of expression.
A suspicious judge
Rasoulof, 51, last walked the red carpet in 2017, when he won the Un Certain Regard award for A man of integrityon corruption.
In 2020 he was not authorized to leave Iran to receive the Golden Bear in Berlin for The lives of othersa harsh vision of the death penalty, which is applied massively in that country.
The seed of the sacred fig in its provisional title) tells the story of an Iranian judge who begins to suspect his own wife and daughters during protests in Tehran.
The filming was done in secret, preserving the identity of the actors as much as possible.
Rasoulof is the author of independent cinematography shot by hand, always behind the surveillance of the ayatollah regime.
The filmmaker has presented three films at Cannes: Goodbye (2011), Manuscripts don’t burn (2013) y A man of integrity (2017).
“Choose the exile”
After hiding in Germany, Rasoulof denounced the criminal machinery of the Islamic Republic in a statement sent to AFP.
“I had to choose between prison or leaving Iran. Full of regret, I chose exile,” he explained.
Rasoulof had already been imprisoned between July 2022 and February 2023, and was released from prison only thanks to a general amnesty.
Cannes has always opened its arms to Iranian cinema, which shows surprising signs of vitality.
Directors Jafar Panahi (Taxi Tehran(or Saeed Roustaee)Leila and her brothers) are some of the Iranian filmmakers who released films recently.
A series of film personalities expressed their support for Rasoulof in an open letter, among them the Iranian actress who has taken refuge in France Zar Amir Ebrahimi, or the actress of Anatomy of a eachthe German Sandra Hller, as well as two of Rasoulof’s competitors in this 2024 edition, the Indian Payal Kapadia and the American Sean Baker.
In addition to The seed of the sacred figCannes will witness the premiere of the last film in competition, The most precious of goodsan animated film by Frenchman Michel Hazanavicius (Oscar winner The Artist).
The jury, chaired by Greta Gerwig, will announce their achievements on Saturday.
FUENTE: AFP
