The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Details
NOTE TO FIRST-TIMERS: This event is not a screening of this film. This event is a group Zoom conversation on this film, after you've streamed or rented and watched it on your own during the week. Check out the HOW THIS WORKS section below. We look forward to having you join us!
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Original title: Dane-ye anjir-e ma'abed
An investigating judge struggles with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran caused by the death of a young woman. When his gun goes missing, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing harsh measures that fray family ties.
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36 wins & 74 nominations total
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HOW THIS WORKS
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To find out where to stream or rent The Seed of the Sacred Fig online, click the link to [[JustWatch.com]](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-seed-of-the-sacred-fig). Watch on your own during the week and then join us for our Zoom conversation Saturday, March 14 at 7:20pm. A Zoom link will appear to the right of your screen once you RSVP. (NOTE: If you can’t get that link to work, copy and paste it into the search bar of your browser.)
Mohammad Rasoulof, a dissident Iranian director, made "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" in secret due to the risk of severe punishment for his political views. He was sentenced to eight years in prison by Iranian authorities and fled to Germany to escape the threat. The film was produced under constant vigilance and trust, embedding an authenticity that cannot be replicated from a distance.
Dennis Schwartz
It’s a powerful melodrama, that was amazingly shot in secret inside Iran.
The openly political Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof (“There Is No Evil”/”A Man of Integrity”) is sentenced in 2024 to an 8-year prison sentence by the Ayatollah’s Revolutionary Court, in Iran’s extremist religious regime, and flees the country in exile over its mountains. In 2022 he spent several months in the notorious Evin Prison for not following orders to stop making films in Iran.
Peter Debruge
The situation Rasoulof depicts is hardly limited to Iran. There are echoes of Nazi Germany and modern-day China in the way average citizens submit, while the pressures to inform on one’s neighbors recall pre-perestroika Soviet policies. Rasoulof’s genius comes in focusing on how this dynamic plays out within a family, which makes it personal.
Chase Hutchinson
It's a remarkable, revolutionary work of art. As precisely focused and tightly constructed as it is expansive in its aspirations, it’s a rallying cry for the irreplaceable value of artistic expression in a world that will repress it at all costs.