The Seed of the Sacred Fig | Dir: Mohammad Rasoulo | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Writer /director Mohammad Rasoulo was in goal when there were riots on the streets of Tehran after 22 year old Jina Mahasa Amini was arrested by Iran’s “morality police” for alleged non-compliance with Iran’s laws on wearing the hijab, and died while in custody.
This was in 2022 and since then Iranian security forces have escalated physical violence against women and girls who are perceived as failing to comply with the mandatory hijab laws and regulations, according to the report from the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran.
Apart from increased monitoring of hijab compliance over the last two years, the death penalty has been used to terrorise Iranians and discourage them from protesting and demanding civil rights the UN investigators said.
So Mohammad Rasoulo’s thriller was shot in secret before he escaped the country on foot. It centres on the family life of a man who is thrust into the public eye when he is appointed as an investigating judge in the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
Iman (Missagh Zareh who had refused to work in official Iranian cinema in protest of social conditions and severe censorship) and his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani who was imprisoned for supporting the Jina protests) would be considered middle class, but Najmeh is excited that the promotion means that her two university-aged girls won’t have to share a room.
Set in 2022, daughters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki) are kept up-to-date with what is going on by their phones. Actual phone footage shows the riots in support of a young woman who is murdered after being arrested for not wearing a hijab correctly and the treatment they are receiving from the police.
Tension within the home mounts when Iman brings home a gun for protection, and it goes missing. The domestic situation reflects what is happening outside. As the daughters try to pointy out injustice, their mother tries to defuse any tensions, and their father goes at great lengths to assert his authority.
Winning the 2024 Cannes Special Jury Prize, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is not only a tension-filled three hours, but it bravely tells of a regime that is strangling its own citizens, like the sacred fig tree strangles its host.
The film has also been nominated for the Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language Award at the Golden Globes.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig screens at UWA’s Somerville from Monday 6 January until Sunday 12 January from 8pm.
Lezly Herbert
