“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” by Mohammad Rasoulof: A Pivotal Moment in Political Cinema at the 30th Athens International Film Festival

After enduring long-term persecution and harassment, Mohammad Rasoulof escaped from Iran this past May, walking for 28 days and nights until he reached Germany on foot. Had he not found a way to hastily leave his country, the embattled filmmaker would have been sentenced to eight years of imprisonment and torture, branded an enemy of theocratic rule in his homeland. Now safe, Rasoulof received ecstatic applause at the recent Cannes Film Festival, where his new film competed for the Palme d'Or, marking his first public appearance at a film event as a free man in many years.

"The Seed of the Sacred Fig" is an overtly anti-regime film, a powerful drama that undoubtedly ranks among the pinnacle of contemporary political cinema. Now in self-imposed exile in Europe, Rasoulof left Iran with a parable born from the depths of modern social unrest.

This same unrest drives the members of a middle-class family, ideologically divided, into a final, no-holds-barred confrontation. A declaration of outrage and anger, a suspense thriller, and a direct attack on an oppressive regime that kills its own children, Rasoulof's much-discussed work won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and is Germany's official submission for the upcoming Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

The film will be released in cinemas by AMA Films.