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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>Mohammad Rasoulof left Iran after making his most daring film</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"> <link id="favicon" rel="shortcut icon" type="image/png" href="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAYAAAAf8/9hAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAHlJREFUOBFjYBgFFIcA48cYpf/opvAv+YouxODXshZDbFONDSMLSJRv8V245KdYZTD7//8XcDFGRgkwe2O1NVzMv/UomA02AMQCaUQ2CCQG0ohsEEgMphHEBgEmCIWdRNeMTRXYBTBnw2iYQpjTYXx022Hio/RAhwAAjXEfJrIXnj4AAAAASUVORK5CYII="> <style> body { display: block; padding: 0px 20px; max-width: 550px; margin: 0 auto; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; } .full-version-link { margin-left: 15px; } .slug-line { font-size: 1.1rem; margin-bottom: 15px; } .hr-line { position: relative; height: 4px; } .hr-line:after { background: linear-gradient(to right, #e60000 0%, #e60000 33.33%, #000000 33.33%, #000000 66.66%, #3366CC 66.66%); position: absolute; content: ''; height: 4px; right: 0; left: 0; top: 0; } hr.gray { border: .5px solid gray; } .story-title { line-height: 2rem; font-size: 1.5rem; margin: 0; } .topic-heading { line-height: 2rem; font-size: 1.5rem; } .topic-container>ul { padding: 0; line-height: 1.4rem; } .topic-container li { display: block; padding-bottom: 15px; } .topic-container { margin-top: 20px; } .topic-date { margin: 20px 0; font-style: italic; } .paragraphs-container { line-height: 1.5rem; } .button:link, .button:visited { background-color: white; color: black; border: 2px solid black; padding: 4px 8px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; } .button:hover, .button:active { background-color: black; color: white; } .lower-nav-container { margin-top: 40px; } .lower-nav-container li { margin-left: 0; display: inline; padding-right: 20px; } h6 { text-transform: uppercase; } </style> </head> <body> <header> <p>Text-Only Version <a class="full-version-link button" href="https://www.npr.org/nx-s1-5163638">Go To Full Site</a></p> </header> <main> <article> <div class="story-container"> <p class="slug-line"> <a class="slug-link" href="/">NPR</a> > <a class="slug-link" href="/1137">Movie Interviews</a> </p> <div class="story-head"> <h1 class="story-title">Mohammad Rasoulof left Iran after making his most daring film</h1> <p>By Olivia Hampton, Leila Fadel</p> <p>Tuesday, November 26, 2024 • 5:00 AM EST</p> <p>Heard on <a href="/nx-s1-5168091/2024-11-26">Morning Edition</a> </div> <div class="hr-line"></div> <div class="paragraphs-container"> <p>Just days after he finished shooting his latest film, <em>The Seed of The Sacred Fig</em>, Mohammad Rasoulof got a call that would change the course of his life. </p><p>Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Court had just sentenced him to eight years in prison over charges linked to his earlier films and activism. It was the latest, and harshest, in a series of arrests and jail time over the past 15 years. There was no possibility of appeal. </p><p>Security forces had yet to learn of the new film, which was shot in secret without required government authorization.</p><p>"That's when I saw no other way but leaving the country," Rasoulof told NPR's <a href="/people/158988722/leila-fadel">Leila Fadel</a> during a recent visit to New York, part of travels that have taken him across the world to promote what is assuredly his most daring film. </p><p>Earlier this year, Rasoulof traveled on foot over Iran's rugged mountains for a grueling 28-day journey that eventually landed him in Germany, and then onwards to the Cannes Film Festival in France for the film's premiere. </p><p>The director says he desperately tried to continue living in Iran to create the kind of work he wanted to make, "which meant living under constant fear, pressure and with a great deal of tension." </p><p>But with a lengthy prison sentence and further anticipated retaliation over the new film looming, "it became apparent to me that the the only role I could play while in prison was the role of the victim of censorship... And I don't like playing the role of the victim," he added, speaking through his interpreter, Iante Roach. </p><p>The story of his film centers around a family of four in Tehran that grows increasingly divided over the daughters' support for the Woman, Life, Freedom movement sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022. She was known by her Kurdish name Jina and was arrested for not wearing her headscarf properly. </p><p>Rasoulof was in jail at the time and the protests had largely died down by the time he was released in February 2023. Re-creating for his film scenes involving the street protests would have triggered immediate scrutiny from Iran's security forces. So Rasoulof incorporated footage shot by ordinary people during the actual protests.</p><p>"These videos were truly shocking, at least in two ways. On the one hand, they showed you what oppressive and savage regime is ruling the country," he said. "And on the other hand, they showed you this incredibly courageous young generation that knows how to express its wants."</p><p>The father in the story, Iman (Missagh Zareh), is promoted as an investigator in the Islamic Revolutionary Court and his wife, Najmeh, (Soheila Golestani) tries to keep the family unified. </p><p>Najmeh advises her daughters to now be "irreproachable" to avoid any possible retaliation. "You must watch your attitude, your clothes, the places you go, your friends, your words," she warns.</p><p>Rasoulof says he was inspired by a chance encounter with a high-ranking prison official while in detention. The man "told me in secret that he hated himself, he was thinking of taking his life, and that his children kept questioning him very harshly about his job," Rasoulof recalled. "And that's where I thought it would be very interesting to tell the story of a family that has a rift of that kind."</p><p>It was also thanks to people he met in prison that Rasoulof was ultimate able to leave the country. They told him of safe routes he could take out of Iran. "The path to freedom passed through prison," he said. The younger actresses also managed to leave the country, but not Zareh and Golestani, along with other members of the cast and crew.</p><p>At Cannes in May, the film received a 12-minute standing ovation. When he walked out on the red carpet, Rasoulof pulled out of his jacket pictures of Zareh and Golestani. </p><p>The cast and crew's passports were confiscated and those involved in the film have also been accused in court proceedings of spreading corruption, prostitution, antigovernment propaganda and conspiracy against national security, according to Rasoulof. In recent days, Golestani has faced multiple interrogations and intense pressure. </p><p>"The regime is paranoid about other filmmakers making underground films in a similar vein, and so they probably want to use our cast and crew and make examples out of them in order to dissuade anyone who wants to do a similar project in the future inside Iran," Rasoulof said.</p><p>He acknowledged that his film owed much to the women who collaborated with him, especially the actresses. "Their courage and resilience was the most inspiring and the most enabling aspect of the entire project," he said. "They were the ones who always gave me the confidence and the courage and gave us all the courage and desire to keep going." </p><p>He said that Setareh Maleki, who plays the younger daughter, Sana, was very clear when first approached about the film that she'd refuse to participate if she had to wear the veil. She does wear the veil in some of the film's scenes, but these are set in public places, where the veil is compulsory in Iran. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women are also forbidden from appearing on screen without a full hijab.</p><p>"For me, the most important question was always what matters the most to you? Is it filmmaking or is it freedom, integrity, self-respect, dignity? And I think it's the latter," Rasoulof said. "I want freedom. I don't want to make films at any costs. I don't want to make films that comply with censorship."</p><p><em>The broadcast version was produced by </em><a href="/people/1102285709/mansee-khurana"><em>Mansee Khurana</em></a><em>. The digital version was edited by </em><a href="/people/g-s1-2467/obed-manuel"><em>Obed Manuel</em></a><em>.</em></p> <hr> <h3>Transcript</h3> <p>LEILA FADEL, HOST: <p><p> If the Iranian government had its way, "The Seed Of The Sacred Fig" would never be seen. Mohammad Rasoulof made his latest film in Iran in secret, inspired by the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. She was known by her Kurdish name, Jina, and was arrested for not wearing her headscarf properly. Those protests are the backdrop to Rasoulof's story about one Iranian family. The father, Iman just got promoted as an Iranian Revolutionary court investigator. At home, his wife and two daughters only get glimpses of what he does, and that begins to rip the family apart. Rasoulof joined me in New York with his interpreter, Iante Roach, and I started by asking him what inspired this thriller.<p><p>MOHAMMAD RASOULOF: (Through interpreter) Over the last 15 years, I've had to deal continuously with the security apparatus of Iran. I was in prison when the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom protests began. And then I had a chance encounter with a senior prison official who told me in secret that he hated himself. He was thinking of taking his life, and that his children kept questioning him very harshly about his job. And that's where I thought it would be very interesting to tell the story of a family that has a rift of that kind.<p><p>FADEL: You are watching this man who is part of the system that his daughters feel is oppressing their fellow students, themselves. And you see this mother trying to keep the family together. That family dynamic and that struggle, what is the larger message?<p><p>RASOULOF: (Through interpreter) For a character like Iman, the father, it's important to note that these people are normal, and often they desire to do the right thing - to be good people, as it were. And the principal theme of the film is (non-English language spoken) - submission to power or ideology or to religious thought.<p><p>FADEL: And it really comes across in the film 'cause you watch him start his new job with the understanding that he's going to do it right. He's going to investigate properly and then come to understand that he's just supposed to sign off. And then the paranoia starts to seep into the home. But I want to ask you about the paranoia of filming the film 'cause you did it all in secret. Why did you do that?<p><p>RASOULOF: (Through interpreter) In a way, I think paranoia is born of fear. And, of course, as a filmmaking cast and crew, we had to be careful. And I've been making underground films for many years, and that's because I don't want to kneel to censorship.<p><p>FADEL: And ultimately, you left Iran. You snuck out on foot. Was it over this film that you made?<p><p>RASOULOF: (Through interpreter) So I can't say that I left Iran only because of this last film. It's a decision that was many years in the making, and yet it was very sudden and immediate at the same time. I was banned from leaving the country in 2017 after making a film at the time. Just a few days after we wrapped the shoot of "The Seed Of The Sacred Fig," I was sentenced to eight years in prison. It was a final sentence. I could no longer appeal or do anything. And that's when I saw no other way but leaving the country and keep making films.<p><p>FADEL: You were able to get out. Can you say how?<p><p>RASOULOF: (Through interpreter) The path to freedom passed through prison. I met a number of people who told me, if you ever decide or have to leave Iran illegally, please tell us. We will help you. And door-to-door, from the moment I left my home to the moment I set foot in Europe, it took 28 days.<p><p>FADEL: And I know you were also able to get out some of the cast and crew as well, the younger actors who played the daughters. But two of the actors, Soheila Golestani and Missagh Zareh - that play the parents - are still in Iran. Are they safe?<p><p>RASOULOF: (Through interpreter) All the cast and crew are accused in court proceedings on the charges of spreading corruption on Earth, prostitution, propaganda against the regime and attempts against national security. What is clear is that the regime is paranoid about other filmmakers making underground films in a similar vein. And so they probably want to use our cast and crew and make examples out of them in order to take away anyone's courage who wants to do a similar project in the future inside Iran.<p><p>FADEL: Where does that bravery come from? I mean, it's terrifying. The bravery to just be themselves on film, where does it come from? Where does your bravery come from?<p><p>RASOULOF: (Through interpreter) So all the cast and crew were perfectly aware of the dangers and risks they were taking by participating in the film, and which, in fact, they have been faced with since the moment the news of the film's premiere at Cannes came out. Everyone's passport was confiscated, and a really huge pressure was placed upon everyone. And this was, of course, orchestrated in order to pressurize me so that I'd withdraw the film from the main competition at Cannes. But, of course, no one from the cast or crew asked me to do so. It's important to add that my collaborators, especially my female collaborators and especially the actresses in the film, is that their courage and resilience was the most inspiring and the most enabling aspect of the entire project.<p><p>FADEL: Can you say more about that?<p><p>RASOULOF: (Through interpreter) They were the ones who always gave me the confidence and the courage and gave us all the courage and desire to keep going. For me, the most important question was always, what matters the most to you? Is it filmmaking, or is it freedom, or is it integrity, self-respect, dignity? And I think it's the latter. I want freedom. I don't want to make films at any cost. I don't want to make films that comply with censorship.<p><p>FADEL: Director Mohammad Rasoulof - Iante Roach is his interpreter - thank you for your time.<p><p>RASOULOF: Thank you so much. Thank you.<p><p>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)<p><p>FADEL: "The Seed Of The Sacred Fig" is out tomorrow.<p> </div> </div> </article> </main> <div class="hr-line"></div> <nav> <p>Topics</p> <ul> <li><a href="/1001">News</a></li> <li><a href="/1008">Culture</a></li> <li><a href="/1039">Music</a></li> </ul> </nav> <footer> <nav class="lower-nav-container"> <li><a href="/614470770">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a href="/179876898">Terms of Use</a></li> <li><a href="/179881519">Permissions</a></li> <li><a href="/179878450">Privacy Policy</a></li> </nav> <p>&copy NPR</p> </footer> </body> </html>