Programme Notes: The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Once again tackling deeply taboo pervasive societal issues throughout Iran, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is an unflinching indictment of the grip of patriarchal control and the daily struggle for freedom for women. Interweaving real-life footage of the Women, Life, Freedom anti-authoritarian protests which spread in the wake of a devastating tragedy, this extraordinary film may focus on the specific spiralling experience of one family, but it represents the harsh reality of so many.

Viewed through the prism of an investigative judge, it bears witness to the lengths a once-dedicated family man would go to in order to protect the rule of the state he serves.

The life of Iman (Missagh Zareh) is upended after he is appointed as a judge in Tehran. Thrust into public scrutiny and tasked with prosecuting protestors rallying for women’s rights across the country, the safety of his carefully managed family unit is suddenly compromised. With his daughters Rezvan (Masha Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki) sympathetic to the cause, glimpsed through videos spreading across social media , and his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) tested by the risk to her loved ones’ safety, Iman becomes consumed by distrust and paranoia…

Featuring remarkable performances from the incredible trio of women at its heart, and an increasingly disquieting turn from unwaveringly dedicated patriarch Missah Zareh, this universally acclaimed drama was filmed entirely in secret. In defiance of Iran’s strict laws against criticising the regime, this sprawling, supremely tense familial saga pays tribute to the courageous power of film as a means of enacting change. Cinema often acts as an empathetic means of discovery, and sharing life experience beyond our own, and Rasoulof’s film is an illuminating insight into life under constant surveillance and unshakeable systemic control.

Awarded with the Special Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival in 2024, this microcosm of modern Iranian society also stands as an Oscar nominee for Best International Feature, going up against Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here (screening at Tyneside from 21st Feb), Gints Zilbalodis’ animation Flow (screening at Tyneside from 21st March) , Magnus von Horn’s The Girl with the Needle and Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez.

Rasoulof previously astonished with his affecting exploration of the death penalty in Iran – 2021’s There Is No Evil. Probing vital issues which many filmmakers would not dare to address, it bravely interrogated the myriad of ways lives have been affected by the death penalty in the country. Indeed, in a similar manner to The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Rasoulof also chooses a provocative subject for one of the four interconnected stories; whereas in his latest, we view the effects of the protests through the eyes of a judge, here, too, he explored one of the most emotionally challenging facets of society through the perspective of the judge tasked with enacting its upholding.

Though the film, which has shades of the Kubrickian as it unfolds into its nail-biting final act, has garnered widespread acclaim across international film festivals, it has forced its filmmaker, and his artistic collaborators, into exile from Iran. Forced to flee after receiving an eight year prison sentence following the release of the film at Cannes, his unfailing resilience has allowed The Seed of the Sacred Fig to reach our screens in the UK. It is truly vital cinema of the highest order.