Director of Photography: Pooyan Aghababaei
Cast: Misagh Zare, Soheila Golestani, Setareh Maleki, Mahsa Rostami, Niusha Akhshi, Reza Akhlaghirad, Shiva Ordooie, Amineh Mazrouie Arani
Director: Mohammad Rasoulof
Rating: ***1/2
Runtime: 168 min.

 “The Seed of the Scared Fig” is the latest from Rasoulof, amongst the foremost and frequently prosecuted Iranian filmmakers alongside friend Jafar Panahi. It’s a wonder that they are even making films when their films are considered illicit and have to be smuggled out of the country to foreign festivals and art houses to be seen by the world. Their films, indirect indictments of the Islamic system are searing, intense and hard-hitting. This latest film is no different.

 This new film by Rasoulof  was shot secretly, without official sanction. But near its completion, he was presented with a prison sentence of eight years, with flogging and the beleaguered filmmaker had no option but to seek assylum in a more cinema friendly country.