CANNES.- He director Mohammad Rasoulof, who has just fled Irn After being sentenced to prison terms and lashes, he arrived at Cannes Festivalwhere tomorrow – May 24 – he will present his film in competition for the Palme d’Or, AFP journalists confirmed today.
The filmmaker, who was seen at the Festival Palace, where the exhibition is taking place, refused to answer questions from reporters before the official presentation of his film, The seed of the sacred fig. The premiere gala will be his first public appearance after having managed to flee the Iranian regime.
Director’s return to Cannes
The 51-year-old director returns to the Croisette for the first time since 2017, when he won the Un Certain Regard award for A man of integrity, about corruption. In 2020, he was not allowed to leave the Islamic Republic of Iran to receive the Golden Bear in Berlin for The lives of othersaround the death penalty.
Rasoulof announced last week that he had left the country clandestinely, on foot, on a journey that he described as exhausting and dangerous.
The filmmaker decided to leave his country shortly after being sentenced to eight years in prison, of which five years permanently, and receiving lashes for collusion to attack the security of the State.
He had already been imprisoned between July 2022 and February 2023, and was released from prison only thanks to a general amnesty granted to thousands of people after the large pro-democracy demonstrations that shook the country.
The seed of the sacred fig tells the story of an Iranian judge who falls into paranoia and begins to suspect his own wife and daughters during protests in Tehran, according to a statement distributed by the contest.
The filming was done in secret, preserving the identity of the actors as much as possible.
Some were able to leave the country once the film was finished and others are under pressure from the intelligence services.
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).
FUENTE: AFP
