The seed of the sacred fig treeexiled director Mohammad Rasoulof's Iranian drama won the top prize for best film at the Arab Critics' Awards for European Films.
The award was announced at the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt. A jury of critics from 15 Arab countries chose Rasoulof's drama among 22 European productions. The seed of the sacred fig tree is a Franco-German-Iranian production and is Germany's official film at the 2025 Academy Awards in the best international feature film category.
The film, a depiction of a conservative Iranian family falling apart in the political turmoil of the Women Life Freedom protests, premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where it won a special jury prize and the Fipresci Award from of international film criticism.
Rasoulof, a harsh critic of the Iranian regime – Rasoulof was arrested and imprisoned in Tehran's notorious Evin prison in July 2022 for signing a petition calling on security forces to “lay down their arms” and exercise restraint in response to street protests – shot the secretly filming. Shortly before Cannes, and after receiving an eight-year prison sentence, he fled the country on foot. He now lives in Germany.
The Arab Critics' Awards for European Films were launched in 2019 by the European Film Promotion (EFP) and the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) to promote cinematic diversity across Europe and increase industry interest in the Arab region for exceptional European films. It is hoped that the jury of Arabic-speaking critics will help bridge cultural differences and offer new perspectives to European cinema. Previous winners of the Arab Critics ranking include Aki Kaurismäki Fallen leaves (2023), EO by Jerzy Skolimowski (2022), e 107 mothers by Peter Kerekes (2021).