An Iranian dissident director who made a film in secret has won at the Cannes Film Festival, where he denounced the “catastrophic” regime in his home country.
Mohammad Rasoulof and his crew made the film The Seed of the Sacred Fig while avoiding Iranian intelligence, but the director was threatened with arrest during the final weeks of shooting.
Rasoulof finished the work clandestinely and then risked his life to flee the country to avoid a pending jail sentence, and to present his film in Cannes.
He has now been named winner of “a prize created by the jury to honour his filmmaking”.
The director tearfully accepted his award to a deafening, lengthy standing ovation, saying that many of his crew were left in Iran and faced “pressure from the secret service of the Islamic republic”.
He added that the Iranian regime was a “daily catastrophe for my people”.
‘Gangsters of cinema’
Rasoulof, 51, has had a number of run-ins with the country’s officials, resulting in serving several stints in prison, and having his passport confiscated.
His latest film centres on the paranoia of a judge in Iran’s Revolutionary Court as he handles protests in the country.
Rasoulof said he and his crew had to become “gangsters of cinema” to avoid the authorities while making the film they knew would anger the regime, and they ditched their mobile devices so they could not be tracked.
However, authorities got wind of the film and claimed that it had not gained a proper licence and that actresses involved in the production were not applying their hijab properly, according to Babak Paknia, a human rights lawyer who represents Rasoulof.
In early 2024, the director was sentenced to eight years in prison and public flogging for “examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country’s security”.
The filmmaker decided to flee the country, leaving behind his electronic devices and walking over the border into a safe country which he has not named, before making contact with European authorities.
He remains in exile in Europe and attended Cannes despite pressure from the Iranian authorities to withdraw.
The coveted Palme d’Or, the top prize awarded at the festival, went to American comedy romance Anora, directed by Sean Baker.
Director George Lucas was presented with an honorary prize by his longtime friend Coppola.
The grand prize, the second most prestigious, went to All We Imagine As Light by Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia. She offered solidarity on stage with festival workers striking for better pay.
The prize of the jury, which included Eva Green, went to Mexican film Amelia Perez.
Jesse Plemons was named best actor for his role in A Kind of Kindness, and Miguel Gomes won best director for Grand Tour.
The best script went to the acclaimed Demi Moore comeback film, The Substance, while the jury, led by Barbie director Greta Gerwig, broke with tradition and awarded the best actress award to “best actresses”, choosing all lead female roles in the film.
The festival closed without any stars making political statements regarding ongoing events in Gaza, at the request of Cannes bosses.
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