Mohammad Rasoulof and The Seed of the Sacred Fig

The award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof will be one of the main guests at the 2025 festival. Rasoulof will present his latest film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which is banned in Iran and has gained international acclaim for its poetic cinematic language and bold storytelling.

After being sentenced to eight years in prison and corporal punishment, Mohammad Rasoulof was forced to flee Iran just before his film The Seed of the Sacred Fig competed for the Palme d’Or in Cannes in May 2024. Rasoulof’s highly political films, which often criticize oppression and abuse of power in Iran, have received numerous international awards at major festivals worldwide. The Seed of the Sacred Fig is his most powerful critique of the Iranian regime to date.

The film follows Iman, a regime-loyal investigator whose life is turned upside down after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested for “improperly” wearing her hijab, dies in the regime’s custody. Her death sparks massive protests across Iran, deeply affecting Iman and his family. His daughters begin to openly question both the regime and their father’s authority, while his wife gradually sides with them. When a gun, symbolizing both his power and his insecurity, goes missing in their home, tensions escalate both at work and within the family.

“It is an honor to welcome Mohammad Rasoulof to the Göteborg Film Festival as a main guest in our Focus: Disobedience section. His courage and uncompromising work as a filmmaker, now in exile, remind us of the power of art to challenge power structures and illuminate injustices. Rasoulof’s films, created under extreme conditions, are not only artistic masterpieces but also acts of civil disobedience that inspire us all to stand up for freedom and human rights,” says Pia Lundberg, Artistic Director of the Göteborg Film Festival.

Focus: Disobedience – The Seed of the Sacred Fig

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is the centerpiece of the festival’s Focus: Disobedience and will have its premiere on January 30 at Bio Roy at 4:00 PM. The screening will be followed by a Directors Talk with Rasoulof. The next day, January 31, at 12:30 PM, the director will also attend the film’s second screening at Biograf Draken. Mohammad Rasoulof is also featured as the screenwriter of Seven Days by Ali Samadi Ahadi, which will be shown during the Göteborg Film Festival.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is distributed in Sweden by TriArt Film and will premiere in Swedish cinemas on March 7.