Iranian rebel director Mohammad Rasoulof fled his homeland just days before his film, The Seed of the Scared Fig, was to be screened in a coveted competition slot at the Cannes Film Festival. The film might remind you of the all-time classic The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. (Also read: Cannes Film Festival 2024: What international reviews say about India’s All We Imagine as Light,
The Sound of Music Deja Vu
Called to serve Hitler’s occupying army in Austria during the end of the heyday of country music and melody, the von Trapp family escapes a life of slavery. In a memorable climax, we see them trek across the Alps.
Rasoulof’s latest escape story had all the elements of a thriller – just like the plot of The Sound of Music. But unlike the von Trapps, Rasoulof did not appear happy in Cannes. For him, it was a very difficult decision – staying in Iran and facing a flogging, eight years in prison and being stopped from doing what he knew best, cinema. In just two hours, he fled Iran.
Rasoulof’s great escape
He told the media that he decided to leave his beloved country after being accused and convicted of committing crimes against Iran. There was little time left before the Revolutionary Guards would arrest him, so he chose freedom. Freedom to make films – not to rot in prison.
Rasoulof said in a statement: “The Islamic Republic has targeted the lives of protesters and civil rights activists, so death sentences are being carried out. It’s hard to believe, but right now as I write this, a young rapper, Toumaz Salehi, has been imprisoned and sentenced to death. The scope and intensity of the repression has reached a point of brutality where people expect news of another heinous government crime every day. The Islamic Republic’s criminal machine is constantly and systematically violating human rights.”
Rasoulof knew how to escape without getting caught. He threw away all his electronic gadgets, including his mobile phone, because he knew they would help the Iranian police trace him. And on foot, he crossed the mountains and reached Germany, where freedom and peace awaited him. His journey was very similar to the one shown in The Sound of Music. Cinema is indeed a mirror of life.
However, Rasoulof is confident that he will return home. He thinks things will change there. Many Iranian artists have had this desire, but have not been able to return to their homeland.
Rasoulof, who won Berlin’s Golden Bear in 2020 with There Is No Evil and the top prize at Un Certain Regard in Cannes in 2018 with A Man of Integrity, shows in his latest presentation how some people remain silent spectators to the evils that prevail in their country. They are so devoted to the system. Not everyone can be as courageous as him
