Iran/France/Germany/2024—directed by Mohammad Rasoulof | 147 min.

Shot entirely in secret, Mohammad Rasoulof’s astonishing, award-winning thriller centers on a family thrust into the public eye when Iman (Misagh Zare) is appointed as an investigating judge in Tehran. As political unrest erupts in the streets, Iman realizes that his job is even more dangerous than expected, making him increasingly paranoid and distrustful, even of his own wife, Najmeh (Soheila Golestani), and their daughters. 

In April 2024, despite his film being invited to compete in the Cannes Film Festival (where it won the Special Jury Prize), the director was sentenced by Iranian authorities to eight years in prison, as well as flogging and confiscation of his property; he has chosen instead to live in exile abroad. 

An official selection of the Toronto, Telluride, and New York Film Festivals, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is also a submission for Best International Feature at the 97th Academy Awards®. In Farsi with English subtitles.

“A blistering, propulsive thriller.” –Justin Chang, The New Yorker