Iman, an honest man, is appointed as an investigator for the Tehran Revolutionary Courts. This should delight his wife and two daughters. However, following the death of Mahsa Amini—arrested by the police for wearing an inappropriate headscarf—riots erupt in the capital.

Read more: “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” by Mohammad Rasoulof: Woman, Life, Freedom

This new job will finally get them the four-room apartment they’ve been waiting for, the dishwasher they’ve been dreaming of, and a few rungs up the social ladder. But it also involves signing hundreds of warrants for the summary execution of arrested activists.

Rasoulof’s genius lies in his ability to blend the contemporary history of an entire country with its direct consequences for a typical family. One of the most striking scenes contrasts images of police violence with the controlled discourse of state television. For once, social networks tell the truth.

The pivotal character is Najmeh, the mother, torn between her children’s growing rebellion and her loyalty to her husband. Corrupted by his position of power, the man of integrity retreats into silence, paranoia, and violence—even subjecting his loved ones to arbitrary interrogation and imprisonment.

Given the clandestine conditions in which the film was shot, one might have feared it would be shaky and unsteady. It is nothing of the sort. The camerawork in the apartment provides scenes of rare beauty, such as the care a wife shows to the face of the man she loves, or the blood from buckshot pellets spilling onto a white, pristine bathroom sink.

Although long, the film manages to keep us on edge, veering from intimate drama to thriller, with chases and horrific elements as the executioner hunts his prey. In Iran, the snowy labyrinth of the Overlook Hotel is replaced by an abandoned troglodyte town.

Condemned to exile—like some of his actresses—the filmmaker has produced a strikingly topical testimony right under the noses of the mullahs. The title evokes the fig tree, a sacred plant whose seeds colonize and suffocate a host to spread. If we want to be optimistic, we could see this as a symbol of hope.

“On my school notebooks, on my desk and on the trees, on the sands of snow, I write your name. And by the power of a word, I regain my life. For I was born to know you, to name you… Freedom.”
Translated from Paul Éluard’s Liberté

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The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Dane-ye anjir-e ma’abed) by Mohammad Rasoulof can be (re)discovered on DVD at the Library:
Call number: 7.0 SEE
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