“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is the Winner of the Arab Critics’ Award for European Films

Exiled filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s Iranian drama, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, took home the Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films’ top prize for outstanding film.

At the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, the award was revealed. Out of 22 European productions, Rasoulof’s drama was chosen by a jury of reviewers from 15 Arab nations. Germany’s official submission for the 2025 Academy Awards in the best foreign feature category is The Seed of the Sacred Fig, a French-German-Iranian production.

The film, which tells the story of a conservative Iranian family that disintegrates in the midst of the political unrest surrounding the Women Life Freedom marches, debuted at the Cannes Film Festival this year and took home both the Fipresci award from international film critics and a special jury prize.

Having been detained and imprisoned in Tehran’s infamous Evin jail in July 2022 for signing a petition urging security forces to “Lay Down Your Arms” and display restraint in reaction to street protests, Rasoulof, a scathing opponent of the Iranian regime, shot the video covertly. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and fled the country on foot just before Cannes. He currently resides in Germany.

The Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films were established in 2019 by the Arab Cinema Centre (ACC) and European cinema Promotion (EFP) to encourage cinema diversity throughout Europe and increase industry interest in exceptional European films from the Arab world. The panel of critics who speak Arabic is expected to foster cross-cultural understanding and provide new insights into European film. Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki (2023), EO by Jerzy Skolimowski (2022), and 107 Mothers by Peter Kerekes (2021) are among the previous Arab Critics winners.