I don't think I've left my restrictions behind

...says Mohammad Rasoulof, the Iranian filmmaker living in exile in Germany. The director talks of his new film, representing Germany at the Oscars, and how life in exile will change the course of his filmmaking.

- NAMRATA JOSHI

IRANIAN filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been one of the leading newsmakers this year with his 28-day flight to freedom from his country hitting the headlines the world over. He escaped to Germany in May after being sentenced in Iran to eight years in prison, flogging, fine and confiscation of property following the selection of his latest film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. He attended the film's premiere at Cannes, where it also won the Jury Prize and the Fipresci Award.

Set in the backdrop of the countrywide "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests of 2022 against the compulsory hijab and following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, the film is about an investigating judge Iman (Missagh Zareh), locking horns with his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) and two daughters, Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki) as the political consciousness enters the familial space.

It is Germany's entry to the Oscars this year.