`The Seed of the Sacred Fig`, Iranian dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof`s latest film, for which he received an eight-year prison sentence back home, got a rapturous 12-minute standing ovation at its Cannes Film Festival premiere on Friday, says `Variety`. Rasoulof risked his life by appearing at the film`s premiere as he fled Iran for Europe on May 13 to avoid going to prison.

The only prominent member of the film`s star cast who was with Rasoulof on the red carpet was Golshifteh Farahani, who was seen with Irrfan Khan in the Swiss-French-Singaporean Rajasthani film, `The Song of Scorpions`, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2017. There was undeniable applause as the credits of Rasoulof`s film began to roll (it is `Variety` policy, though, to begin timing standing ovations once the house lights come up). Rasoulof got teary and waved enthusiastically to the balcony.