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Iman: Sana wants blue hair?
Synopsis
Investigating judge Iman struggles with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun goes missing, he suspects his wife and daughters and imposes draconian measures that strain family ties while society’s rules crumble. Director Mohammad Rasoulof was originally scheduled to attend the 2023 Cannes Film Festival as a member of the “A Certain Respect” section. However, he was arrested in July 2022 after criticizing the government’s crackdown on protesters in the southwestern Iranian city of Abadan over the deadly building collapse. On May 8, 2024, Rasouloff’s lawyer announced that he had been sentenced to eight years in prison, as well as flogging, a fine, and the confiscation of his property. On May 12, 2024, Rasouloff announced that he had managed to escape Iran and was in an undisclosed location in Europe. On May 24, 2024, Rasouloff attended the film’s premiere in Cannes and took photos on the red carpet with two of the film’s actors, Soheila Golestani and Missagh Zareh.
Children think differently
Painted nails? Why? Najmeh: The world has changed. Iman: The world has changed, but God has not changed. Nor have his laws. Najmeh: We must teach them. Iman: We always have.
Aerial roots sprout and grow to the ground
Opening credits: “Ficus Religiosa is a tree with an unusual life cycle. The seeds contained in bird droppings fall on other trees. The branches then wrap around the host tree, strangling it. Finally, the sacred fig tree stands alone.” “The Sacred Fig Seed” is the first relevant and powerful film about the Iranian uprising in 2022. The “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement emerged immediately after the arrest and death of Jina Mahsa Amini, a student who did nothing but take off her veil. The director takes us to a family of an Iranian judge (working for the state and the Mollah regime) who is about to get a promotion that would change his life, just as the revolution of 2022 begins. We, the viewers, somehow experience this key period of Iran from the point of view of this middle-class family who are about to improve their living conditions.
Should I go to university despite strikes?
I appeared in their daily life until the father’s (judge’s) gun was lost or stolen from their house. The film features a fantastic script, wonderful actors and images of an unknown Iran. You can see Iran as we rarely get to see it: with its modernity, its rich history and ancient monuments, its poverty and its disadvantages. As in many Iranian films, the viewer is immersed in complex situations with ethical questions that force him to choose between moral values, personal values and loyalty to the regime: should I wear this veil or another (less provocative) one? Should I ask my neighbor for a favor and risk exposing my family’s problems? Ethical questions are everywhere and they are direct consequences of the powerful oppressive regime that has ruled Iran for decades. All these questions are answered by the characters with dignity and a sense of duty, sometimes even with loyalty to a regime that doesn’t care at all about its people.
Perspective on the Iranian middle class
These situations reveal the lack of freedom, the oppression of women, the complicity of those who exploit this regime and, of course, the brutality of a regime condemned to sacrifice its own people in order to survive. The latter is perfectly portrayed through the fate of the father who was willing to do his job respectfully but was forced to corrupt himself and sacrifice his people to survive this revolution, as painful as it may be. It is difficult for the Western world to understand and imagine what the daily life of women in Iran looks like.