Sydney Film Festival Review - The Seed of the Sacred Fig

 

“Woman. Life. Freedom.”

Brave, urgent and powerful, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is a pertinent and profound political drama that courageously speaks against the oppression of the Iranian regime as it examines a family dynamic that’s allegorical to the abuses and repression woman face under a domineering dictatorship in a film that’s gripping, intense and bold. 

Discussion Points:

The Sydney Film Festival screening is the first public audience screening of Mohammad Rasoulof’s courageous and bold new film. A film that caused him to be sentenced to 8 additional years in prison and a flogging, and that led to his brave escape from Iran to premiere the film at Cannes last month. And what an incredibly powerful film! Members of my audience broke out into cheers of the same slogan that was chanted during the Mahsa Amini protests - “Woman. Life. Freedom.” For a film that was shot on a tiny budget and almost completely covertly, it looks incredible, with Rasoulof’s direction being so confident and dynamic. It’s an absolutely enthralling film, with so many tightly interwoven threads that all combine to create a courageous tapestry. Soheila Golestani, Missagh Zareh, Mahsa Rostami and Setareh Maleki give bold performances that lead to explosive results. I don’t want to spoil any of the plot or themes, but the last hour in particular goes to a place narratively that I didn’t see coming and that amped the film up to a totally next level tier. Whilst there’s no way it will be submitted by Iran as their international feature contender at the Oscars, I can definitely see this getting Picture, Director and Screenplay nominations. A triumph of bold audacious and necessary filmmaking - best of the fest!