Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof will attend the 2025 Göteborg Film Festival, and present his film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which is banned in Iran. The Seed of the Sacred Fig is the centerpiece of the festival’s Focus: Disobedience and will have its premiere on January 30 followed by a Directors Talk with Rasoulof. Mohammad Rasoulof is also featured as the screenwriter of Seven Days by Ali Samadi Ahadi, which will be shown during the Göteborg Film Festival.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig follows Iman, a regime-loyal investigator whose life is turned upside down after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested for “improperly” wearing her hijab, dies in the regime’s custody. Her death sparks massive protests across Iran, deeply affecting Iman and his family. His daughters begin to openly question both the regime and their father’s authority, while his wife gradually sides with them. When a gun, symbolizing both his power and his insecurity, goes missing in their home, tensions escalate both at work and within the family.

After being sentenced to eight years in prison and corporal punishment, Mohammad Rasoulof was forced to flee Iran just before the film competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival.

“It is an honor to welcome Mohammad Rasoulof to the Göteborg Film Festival as a main guest in our Focus: Disobedience section. His courage and uncompromising work as a filmmaker, now in exile, remind us of the power of art to challenge power structures and illuminate injustices. Rasoulof’s films, created under extreme conditions, are not only artistic masterpieces but also acts of civil disobedience that inspire us all to stand up for freedom and human rights,” says Pia Lundberg, Artistic Director of the Göteborg Film Festival.

Göteborg Film Festival will take place from January 24 to February 2, 2025.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig will be released in Swedish cinemas on March 7, 2025.