Showing On 27, 29, 30 October
Monday 6:00pm, Wednesday 4:00pm and 6:30pm, Thursday 6:00pm
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Storyline (warning: spoilers)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig is a 2024 political drama film directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, exploring themes of paranoia and family dynamics amid political unrest in Iran.
Iman, a devout and honest lawyer, lives with his wife Najmeh and their daughters Rezvan and Sana. He has recently been appointed as an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The position provides him a higher salary and a larger apartment for his family. As the nationwide political protests against the authoritarian government unfold, Iman discovers that he was not hired because of his legal qualities. He is expected to approve judgments presented to him by his superiors without assessing the evidence, including death sentences.
His supportive wife, Namjeh impresses upon their two daughters Rezvan and Sana the need to be discreet in their public behaviour to protect the identity and reputation of their father but as social unrest rises in Tehran, the family is split in their reactions to injustice and freedoms. When Iman's handgun mysteriously disappears and he becomes suspicious, believing that someone in his family has taken it and is lying to him. He forces both daughters and his wife to meet with a colleague, Alireza, for interrogation. Iman justifies this treatment by saying that he no longer feels safe in his own home since he can no longer trust his family.
The title, The Seed of the Sacred Fig refers to a species of fig that spreads by wrapping itself around another tree and eventually strangling it. It is seen as a symbol of the theocratic regime in Iran, namely a system of government in which rulers invoke the name of God. It is a gently paced, but powerful, unrelenting film, with intimidation in one form or another a constant. There is the political and religious imperative by the hardline establishment, along with the subjugation of women and modern ways of thinking. Rasoulof keeps tightening the noose around the family, until it snaps and the tension is palpable.