Exiled Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof to head Busan jury

It is unclear whether Rasoulof will make it to South Korea in person, as the celebrated director fled his native Iran earlier this year.

Dissident Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been named president of the New Currents jury at the upcoming Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
The New Currents strand of BIFF includes first or second films by emerging Asian filmmakers and the jurors will select two winning features, which will each receive a prize of $30,000.
It is unclear whether Rasoulof will make it to South Korea in person, as the celebrated director fled his native Iran earlier this year.
After shooting his latest feature The Seed Of The Sacred Fig in secret, Rasoulof fled Iran after being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging for national security crimes.
The Iranian court found Rasoulof’s films and documentaries to be “examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the security of the country.”
The sentencing came days before the start of the Cannes Film Festival – where his new film The Seed of the Sacred Fig premiered in Competition and won the Special Jury Prize, as well as the Fipresci award.
The filmmaker managed to make it to the Croisette for the premiere, where The Grand Theatre Lumière gave him a moving and lengthy 15 minute plus standing ovation – one which would have carried on had Rasoulof not taken the microphone to thank all those who made the film possible, including the ones who could not make it.
In our Cannes review of The Seed of the Sacred Fig, we said: “We’re fortunate to have filmmakers who dare to challenge oppression, as well as film festivals that programme their work. The Seed of the Sacred Fig is an important outcry against tyranny and misogyny. And beyond the socio-political context of the film – which may lead some to cynically suggest that any Palme win come festival-end limits itself to an act of supporting the director’s artistic defiance and nothing more – Rasoulof has delivered a suspenseful film that boldly stands as one of this year’s very best Competition films.”
Read the full review here.
Rasoulof is understood to be living in Germany. He does not have a passport and is forced to travel with documents provided with the help of the city of Hamburg.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig has been shortlisted as Germany’s submission for the upcoming Oscars.
The 29th BIFF is set to take place from 2-11 October.