Mohammad Rasoulof Flees Iran In Face Of Prison Sentence: Will The Director Make It To Cannes?

Ahead of what could have been a thrilling month for Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, the director finds himself having fled his home country. This comes in the face of an 8-year prison sentence, which was set to be imposed on him, to bypass which, he fled the country in secret. His Cannes-hopeful film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, has been the trigger in this regard.

Mohammad Rasoulof has fled Iran

Mohammad Rasoulof, from the get go, has always harboured a critical perspective towards the Iranian administration, also being vocal about it. On denouncing the government for its crackdown on nationwide protestors, he was jailed up until 2023, being temporarily freed on account of ill health. He has since, been slapped with a travel ban. The latest development on this is that the filmmaker has now fled Iran.

Excerpts from a statement issued by Rasoulof read, "About a month ago, my lawyers informed me that my eight-year prison sentence was confirmed in the court of appeal and would be implemented on short notice. Knowing that the news of my new film would be revealed very soon, I knew that without a doubt, a new sentence would be added to these eight years...I had to choose between prison and leaving Iran. With a heavy heart, I chose exile." Rasoulof has fled to Europe.

Will Mohammad Rasoulof be attending Cannes this year?

Earlier reports had asserted that Mohammad Rasoulof will not be able to attend the Cannes film festival this year, despite his film The Seed of the Sacred Fig, competing for the film festival's top honour - the Palme d'Or. This was due to the aforementioned travel ban that had been slapped on the filmmaker. However, with Rasoulof now having fled, he may just mark his presence at Cannes this year.

As per a Variety report, Jean-Christophe Simon, CEO of Films Boutique and Parallel45, the distributors for The Seed of the Sacred Fig, said, "We are very happy and much relieved that Mohammad has safely arrived in Europe after a dangerous journey. We hope he will be able to attend the Cannes premiere of The Seed of the Sacred Fig in spite of all attempts to prevent him from being there in person."