When the protests broke out after 22-year-old Mahsa Zhina Amini's death in 2022, Mohammad Rasoulof was imprisoned for criticizing the Iranian regime.
The time in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran gave inspiration to his latest film, "The Holy Tree's Fruits", about a regime-loyal man who struggles with mistrust and paranoia and eventually turns against his own family.
The filming took place in great secrecy and mostly indoors in natural light. The team was kept small, with minimal technical equipment.
At the same time, Mohammad Rasoulof was at home directing most of it via the internet.
I worked a lot with the actors beforehand, before the group got bigger and we started for real, says the 52-year-old in connection with the Gothenburg Film Festival.
When we started filming, I controlled everything online, I could see everything and had two assistants on site.
"Gives hope"
When the regime-critical film was selected for the festival in Cannes and became known to the authorities, both Mohammad Rasoulof and several of the actors were forced to flee, while those who stayed in Iran were subjected to pressure and accused of propagating against the regime.
Setareh Maleki, who plays the younger daughter, was deprived of her passport at the airport and had to leave the country by crossing the border, says Mohammad Rasoulof through his interpreter.
He lives in exile in Germany today, which is also the country of origin for the Oscar nomination, despite the entire film taking place in Iran.
It's fascinating and very good that Germany chose to send this film. It gives hope not only to those who make films in Iran, but also in other countries that are subject to censorship and oppression, he says.
"Ruthless and cruel"
He still risks a harsh punishment if he returns. But it's not the prison time itself that's the problem, he emphasizes.
Instead, the driving force is to resist the regime and stand up for what he believes is right.
The biggest consequence is not to sit in prison, I've done that before. Of course, I know they are very ruthless and cruel and I know what punishment I'm expected to get.
But it's not why I'm not going back now, it's because I have things left I want to do and tell.
The protest wave in Iran in 2022 started with 22-year-old Mahsa Zhina Amini's death.
Amini, a Kurdish woman from northwestern Iran, was arrested by the morality police in Tehran on September 13, 2022, for not wearing her headscarf correctly.
She was taken to the hospital after allegedly having a heart attack, which was denied by Amini's family, who claimed she had been subjected to severe violence against her head. On September 16, Amini died in the hospital after being in a coma.
At Amini's funeral in her hometown, spontaneous protests broke out. The protests spread to most of Iran's 31 provinces and led to hundreds of deaths and over 20,000 arrests.
Source: AP
Mohammad Rasoulof, born 1972, is an Iranian film director.
He has won several awards before, while his latest film, "The Holy Tree's Fruits", was recently nominated for an Oscar in the category of best international film.
The film, starring Misagh Zare, Soheila Golestani, Mahsa Rostami, and Setareh Maleki, takes place entirely in Iran. However, it has been nominated as an Oscar entry from Germany, where Mohammad Rasoulof and several of the actors have been forced to flee due to the film.
"The Holy Tree's Fruits" is shown at the Gothenburg Film Festival and has its Swedish cinema premiere on March 7.
