Neon has grabbed North American rights to The Seed of the Sacred Fig, the most recent movie from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof (There Is No Evil, Manuscripts Don’t Burn).
The thriller is ready to debut in competitors in Cannes on Might 24 and marks Rasoulof’s first return to Cannes after being barred from touring to serve on final 12 months’s Un Sure Regard jury by Iranian officers. The movie stars Setareh Abdolmaleki, Zahra Rostami, Amineh Mazroei Arani, and Niousha AkhshiVardoogh. Neon has stated it’s planning a North American theatrical launch in 2024.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig follows Iman, an investigating decide within the Revolutionary Courtroom in Tehran, who grapples with distrust and paranoia as nationwide political protests intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears. Suspecting the involvement of his spouse Najmeh and his daughters Rezvan and Sana, he imposes drastic measures at residence, inflicting tensions to rise. Step-by-step, social norms and the principles of household life are being suspended.
The movie is produced by Rasoulof, Amin Sadraei, Mani Tilgner, Rozita Hendijanian, Jean-Christophe Simon, and co-produced by ARTE France Cinéma with the help of Aide aux Cinémasdu Monde, Centre nationwide du cinéma et de l’picture animée, and Institut français with the help of MOIN Movie Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein. Manufacturing corporations are Germany’s Run Method Photos and France’s PARALLEL45. Movies Boutique is dealing with the worldwide gross sales rights to the movie, with PyramideFilms set to distribute in France this fall.
The deal was negotiated by Neon’s VP of Acquisitions Sarah Colvin with Movies Boutique / Parallel 45’s Jean-Christophe Simon and Movie Boutique’s Julien Razafindranaly on behalf of the filmmakers.
It’s nonetheless unclear whether or not Rasoulof can be current on the movie’s Cannes debut after it was introduced on Monday that he was presently in an “undisclosed location in Europe” after fleeing Iran. Rasoulof had been handed an eight-year jail sentence by Iranian authorities. In a press release shared with the worldwide press, Rasoulof stated: “I strongly object to the unjust latest ruling in opposition to me that forces me into exile.”
Rasoulof has been within the crosshairs of Iran’s hardline Islamic Republic authorities all through his profession for difficult its authoritarian rule. In his newest brush with Iran’s hardline regime, he was arrested in July 2022 for signing a petition titled “Lay Down Your Arms” calling on safety forces to train restraint in relation to common protests.
He was launched on a short lived foundation in February 2023 from Tehran’s Evin jail on account of ailing well being and has been beneath home arrest ever since. Final 12 months, he was invited to serve on the Cannes Un Sure Regard Jury however was unable to just accept the invitation after being barred from leaving Iran. The director has a protracted relationship with Cannes. His movies Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013) and A Man Of Integrity (2017) world premiered in Un Sure Regard in 2013 and 2017, profitable the Fipresci Prize and greatest movie prize respectively.