Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, had to cross the mountains on foot to flee his country, an “exhausting and extremely dangerous” journey that allowed him to find refuge in Germany, he said. he told The Guardian.
A great voice in Iranian cinema, in the crosshairs of the mullahs’ regime for years, the 51-year-old director was recently sentenced on appeal to eight years in prison, five of which are applicable. Denouncing an “unfair” sentence, he managed to leave Iran clandestinely and take refuge in Germany in May.
He did so at the cost of a trip “of several hours, exhausting and extremely dangerous, accompanied by a guide”, which allowed him to cross the mountains and discreetly cross the border on foot, he stated on Friday, May 17 in the British newspaper. .
He initially had only a few hours to decide whether to stay in Iran or flee. But the director wanted to be able to “convey the stories of what’s happening in Iran,” and “that’s something I can’t do in prison,” he summarized.
Condemned for his film
After deactivating all his electronic devices, Mohammad Rasoulof hid in several secret locations before receiving documentation from German authorities.
The filmmaker, a candidate for the Palme d’Or that will be awarded on May 25, hopes to be able to attend Cannes in person. He is in Germany and “the chances of him being able to be present at Cannes are, therefore, greater,” his press officer told AFP.
your movie The seeds of the wild fig tree.which earned him this harsh sentence, tells the story of an investigating judge who gradually sinks into paranoia, at a time when large demonstrations break out in the capital, Tehran.
The director has already been convicted and imprisoned twice in Iran, where repression has continued to increase since the protest movement that shook the country in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini.
“Go home and go to jail.”
Despite this threat of imprisonment, Mohammad Rasoulof, who received numerous international awards, including the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2020, does not rule out the possibility of returning to his country “quite quickly.”
“I always thought that if I stayed in prison for years, I wouldn’t have the strength or ability to make these movies,” he said, “so I have to make them first, and then there will always be time.” come home and go to prison.”
The director was alarmed at the beginning of the week by the permanence of his teams in Iran. He was able to keep “the identities of the cast and crew as well as plot and story details” secret.
Some actors “managed to leave Iran” in time, but many other members of the team are still there “and are being pressured by the intelligence services. They have been subjected to lengthy interrogations. The families of some of them were summoned and threatened,” he said. said.
Source: BFM TV
