Iran Pressures Mohammed Rasoulof to Pull ‘Seed of the Sacred Fig’ From Cannes, Slaps Travel Ban on Film’s Actors
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Iranian authorities are exerting heavy pressure on director Mohammad Rasoulof to pull his latest work “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from the Cannes Film Festival by harassing the film’s producers and actors who have been summoned for questioning and banned from leaving the country.
Human rights lawyer Babak Paknia, who is Rasoulof’s lawyer, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that several unspecified actors and producers on “Sacred Fig” were summoned and questioned last week by authorities.
He added that Iran’s authorities also pressured them to convince Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival. Furthermore, “Some of the film’s actors have been banned from leaving, and according to their statements, after several hours of interrogation, they were asked to ask the director to remove the film from the Cannes festival,” Paknia said in the X post on Tuesday.
Rasoulof’s lawyer added that it was unclear whether the prominent Iranian auteur will be able to travel to Cannes for the world premiere of “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” which was a late addition to the festival’s competition.
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