Iranian filmmaker flees to Europe after prison sentence ahead of his Cannes premiere

CANNES, France — After being sentenced to eight years in prison, the award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof says he’s fled to Europe shortly ahead of the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his latest film. Rasoulof said the prison sentence came before he revealed his latest film, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” That film premieres in competition in Cannes on May 24. “Knowing that the news of my new film would be revealed very soon, I knew that without a doubt, a new sentence would be added to these eight years,” said Rasoulof. “We hope he will be able to attend the Cannes premiere of ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ in spite of all attempts to prevent him from being there in person.” Shortly before the release of Rasoulof’s statement, Thierry Fremaux, Cannes’ artistic director, said “the real question is about his presence” when asked about the “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in a pre-festival press conference Monday.