Ahead of its premiere in Cannes 2024, Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof was sentenced to eight years in prison by Iranian authorities.
Germany has announced the 13 films it will consider for submission to the 97th Academy Awards, including the Cannes award-winning film The Seed of The Sacred Fig by Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof.
Among the notable selections are Andreas Dresen’s From Hilde, With Love and Matthias Glasner’s Dying; Fabian Stumm’s Sad Jokes; and the documentary Hollywoodgate by German-based Egyptian director Ibrahim Nash’at, which premiered at Venice in 2023.
The Seed of The Sacred Fig, though set in Tehran and featuring a predominantly Iranian cast and crew, was produced by Rasoulof’s German company Run Way Pictures, in collaboration with France’s Parallel45 and Arte France Cinéma.
The film follows Iman, an investigating judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, as he deals with growing mistrust and paranoia amid escalating political protests, all while his gun mysteriously disappears. The film blends a fictional narrative with real footage of the protests that were violently suppressed by Iranian authorities.
The film premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 24, 2024, where it was in competition for the Palme d’Or and received a Special Award from the jury. Rasoulof, who had been sentenced to eight years in prison by Iranian authorities for his criticism of the regime, managed to flee to Germany and attended the red carpet premiere at Cannes.
The 97th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 3, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
A shortlist of 15 finalists will be announced on December 17, with the final five nominees revealed on January 17, 2025.
