Virginia Film Festival

Official Oscar^© Selection—Germany

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is a gripping social drama turned cat-and-mouse thriller from noted Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, a vocal critic of Iran’s hardline conservative government who recently fled the country to avoid an eight-year prison sentence. The film follows Iman (Misagh Zare), an ambitious Iranian lawyer who has recently been promoted to state investigator. As protests erupt in the streets following the death of Mahsa Amini, Iman is tasked with rubber-stamping death sentences for activists, aligning himself with the oppressive regime. As he becomes more entrenched in his work, his relationship with his wife (Soheila Golestani) and daughters (Setareh Maleki and Mahsa Rostami) begins to fracture. The film features real-life footage of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, capturing the tension between duty to the state and loyalty to family. The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which earned the Special Jury Prize and the FIPRESCI award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, offers a powerful portrayal of resistance and the cost of complicity.

This film is part of the Middle Eastern and South Asian Cinema Series supported by Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures.