Stafford Film Theatre – The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Mohammad Rasoulof / Iran 2024 / 167 min / Cert 15

A powerful and moving tale of morality, paranoia and resistance set against the backdrop of contemporary protests in Iran which combines deeply felt performances with real footage of the protests.

Filmed secretly in Iran; the director and actors were forced to flee the country after the film’s release. Iman has just been promoted to state investigator in the revolutionary court.

His wife is delighted with the rise in status, while their two teenage daughters are more interested in the growing protests. However, he soon finds that he is expected to rubber-stamp death penalties without even reading the evidence, and struggles to reconcile his own morality.

When his gun goes missing, he suspects his wife and daughters, and the domestic drama gradually builds in intensity and paranoia to a violent and suspenseful climax.