Mohammad Rasoulof fled Iran to debut his film in Cannes. ‘I have many more stories to tell,’ he says

Mohammad Rasoulof was facing eight years in prison — and likely more considering the uncompromising nature of his latest film, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” — when he decided to flee Iran. “I have many more stories to tell, many more narratives to create and films to make,” said Rasoulof, speaking Thursday through an interpreter at Cannes’ Palais des Festivals. Although Iranian authorities have not publicly acknowledged Rasoulof’s sentence, the filmmaker’s attorney said he was recently sentenced to prison and flogging for films and public statements called “examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country’s security.” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” was shot clandestinely in Iran, with a small cast and crew. It’s not the structure that I’m observing anymore, it’s more the people that maintain this system and allow it to function — the mindset of these people, their motivations.” Ahead of the premiere of the film, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” was acquired for North American distribution by Neon, the acclaimed specialty label that’s backed four straight Palme d’Or winners, including last year’s “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Parasite.” The Directors Guild of America has also voiced support for Rasoulof “in his flight from unjust sentencing.” Lesli Linka Glatter, its president, said in a statement: “We stand in solidarity with him as he seeks safe harbor.” Asked where he goes from here, Rasoulof says he’s already begun work on his next project, an animated work about a modern Iranian writer.