It is one of the most dramatic storylines ever delivered at Cannes: Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof walked the red carpet on Friday after fleeing a prison sentence in his home country just days before the film festival.
He received a lengthy standing ovation at the start of the gala premiere as he brandished photos of Missagh Zareh and Soheila Golestani, the actors in his new film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which is competing for the top prize Palme d'Or.
Made underground in Iran on a tiny budget, it tells the story of a court prosecutor whose family life is torn apart by the Women, Life, Freedom protests that convulsed the country in 2022-23.
It is the last day of the Cannes Film Festival screenings, with the winners from the 22 entries to be announced on Saturday by a jury led by Barbie director Greta Gerwig.
Rasoulof came under pressure to withdraw his latest from the festival, but he already knew during the production that he faced a new eight-year prison sentence for "collusion against national security" and hatched a plan to escape Iran.
He walked the red carpet on Friday alongside his daughter Baran Rasoulof and her fellow Iranian actor Golshifteh Farahani, who lives in exile in France.
An outspoken critic of Iran's rulers, Rasoulof had already served two prison terms over his uncompromising political films and had his passport revoked in 2017.
It took 28 days on the road, moving between border villages, to get out of the country, he told Deadline magazine.
"The good thing about going to prison in Iran is that you meet all kinds of youthful people who can help you in such conditions," he told the magazine.
Festival director Thierry Frémaux said he shared the joy of "all festival-goers and all freedom-loving Iranians" over Rasoulof's arrival.
Source: AFP
