Hirschfield International Film Series: The Seed of the Sacred Fig
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Dana Auditorium (Sunderland Language Center)356 College Street
Middlebury, VT 05753 View in Campus Map
Open to the Public

Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
Germany, 2024
Investigating judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that strain family ties as societal rules crumble.
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof was arrested by the Tehran regime and sentenced to eight years in prison, flogging and confiscation of his property. He managed to escape Iran and attend the Cannes film festival in 2024, where The Seed of the Sacred Fig, filmed in secret in Iran and finished in Germany, was awarded the Grand Jury Prize. It was chosen by Germany as its entry in the International Film Oscar competition, where it is currently on the short list. The story of the cast and crew of the film, persecuted and pressured by the regime to withdraw it from the Cannes competition, is an almost a seamless extension of the political thriller plot. Highly and universally praised by critics and audiences alike, The Seed of the Sacred Fig speaks not only of Iran but, as Variety critic Peter Debruge explains, “…There are echoes of Nazi Germany and modern-day China in the way average citizens submit, while the pressures to inform on one’s neighbors recall pre-perestroika Soviet policies. Rasoulof’s genius comes in focusing on how this dynamic plays out within a family, which makes it personal”.
Pizza and popcorn at 6:30pm.
Sponsored by the Hirschfield Film Endowment and the Film and Media Culture Department. Free.
- Sponsored by:
- Film & Media Culture
Contact Organizer
Berg, Sheerya
shberg@middlebury.edu
(802) 443-3190