Mohammad Rasoulof

Mohammad Rasoulof (; born 16 November 1972) is an Iranian independent filmmaker who lives in exile in Europe. He is known for several award-winning films, including The Twilight, Iron Island (2005), Goodbye (2011), Manuscripts Don't Burn (2013), A Man of Integrity (2017) and There Is No Evil (2020). For the latter, he won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival. In 2025, Rasoulof was named one of the 100 Most Influential People by Time.

He has been arrested several times and had his passport confiscated, as the nature and content of his films has brought him into conflict with the Iranian Government. In May 2024, following the announcement that his film The Seed of the Sacred Fig was selected in the main competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Mohammad Rasoulof was sentenced by the Islamic Republic to 8 years in prison, whipping, and a fine. Rasoulof fled to a safe house in Germany after the sentencing.

Early life and education

Mohammad Rasoulof was born on 16 November 1972 in Shiraz, Iran. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology from Shiraz University, and he has studied film editing at Soore University, Tehran.

Career

His first feature-length film, The Twilight (Gagooman), was released in 2002 and was awarded the Crystal Simorgh for Best First Film at the Fajr International Film Festival in Tehran. His second feature, Iron Island (Jazire-ye ahani), was released in 2005. His feature The White Meadows (Keshtzarha-ye sepid) was released in 2009.

Goodbye (Be omid-e didar) premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section and won the prize for directing. His film Manuscripts Don't Burn also premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize. A Man of Integrity won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.

In June 2017, Rasoulof was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

There Is No Evil was awarded the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in 2020, and the Sydney Film Prize at the 68th Sydney Film Festival in 2021.

In 2024, Rasoulof served as the president of the New Currents jury at the 29th Busan International Film Festival.

Legal problems and exile

In 2010, Rasoulof was arrested on set and accused of filming without a permit. He was sentenced to six years in prison, later reduced to one year.

In September 2017 his passport was confiscated upon his return to Iran, meaning he became mamnu'-ol-xoruğ , i.e. banned from leaving the country. Furthermore, he was ordered to attend a court hearing.

On 23 July 2019, Rasoulof was convicted by the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Iran to one-year imprisonment and a two-year ban on leaving the country and on participation in social and political activity because of his film A Man of Integrity. He is accused of "gathering and collusion against national security and of propaganda against the system". In August 2019 Rasoulof appealed the verdict. On his way to the court, in an act of professional solidarity, he and his lawyer were accompanied by some of the most renowned Iranian filmmakers, including Kianoush Ayyari, Majid Barzegar, Reza Dormishian, Asghar Farhadi, Bahman Farmanara, Rakhshān Banietemad, Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Jafar Panahi, and Hasan Pourshirazi.

On 4 March 2020, Rasoulof was sentenced to one year in prison for three of his movies, which were considered "propaganda against the system". The verdict also included a ban on making films for two years. He stated that he intends to appeal the decision and will not turn himself in, considering the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which had already led Iran to release 54,000 prisoners temporarily in order to prevent the virus from spreading.

Rasoulof was originally scheduled to take part in the 2023 Cannes Film Festival as a jury member of the Un Certain Regard section. However, he with Mostafa Aleahmad was arrested in July 2022 after criticising the government's crackdown on protestors in the southwestern city of Abadan over a deadly building collapse. He was temporarily released from prison in February 2023 due to his health. Rasoulof was later pardoned and sentenced to a year in prison and a two-year ban on leaving Iran for "propaganda against the regime."

Following the announcement that his film The Seed of the Sacred Fig was selected in the main competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, the cast and crew were interrogated by Iranian authorities, banned from leaving the country, and pressured to convince Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival line-up. On 8 May 2024, Rasoulof's lawyer announced that the director has been sentenced to eight years in prison as well as flogging, a fine and confiscation of his property. While appealing his sentence, Rasoulof planned his "exhausting, long, complicated, and anguishing journey" out of Iran, which took a total of 28 days. He traveled on foot for several hours with a guide to a village at the border on the Iranian side, where he waited for the appropriate time to cross. He was transferred to a safe house in a village on the non-Iranian side, where he waited for an extended period of time. He was then moved to a town with a German consulate. His passport had been seized by Iranian authorities, so he had no documents to identify himself. However, Rasoulof previously lived in Germany so he contacted the German authorities, who were able to identify him using his fingerprints and issued him a temporary travel document which he used to travel to Germany. On 24 May 2024, he attended the red carpet in Cannes, where later he received a Special Award for his film.

In January 2026, he posted along with Jafar Panahi a statement regarding the protests and massacres in Iran. The statement addressed also the internet blackout in Iran: “On the one hand, the Iranian regime has cut off communication routes inside the country – the internet, mobile phones, and landlines – severing people’s ability to communicate with one another; and on the other hand, it has completely blocked all means of contact with the outside world".

On 28 January 2026, Rasoulof, along with several other Iranian intellectuals, including Amirsalar Davoudi, Hatam Ghaderi, Abolfazl Ghadyani, Mehdi Mahmoudian, Abdollah Momeni, Mohammad Najafi, Jafar Panahi, Nasrin Sotoudeh, and Sedigheh Vasmaghi, and the Narges Mohammadi Human Rights Foundation, published a statement on Instagram asserting that the 2026 Iran massacres were a crime against humanity, accusing Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei of holding principal responsibility.

Filmography

Feature films

Documentary

Other credits

Awards and nominations

Award Year Work Category Result Academy Awards 2025 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Best International Feature Film (as Germany's entry) Adelaide Film Festival 2017 A Man of Integrity International Best Feature Fiction Award Amiens International Film Festival 2011 Golden Unicorn for Career Achievement Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival 2011 Goodbye Youth Jury Award SIYAD (Cinema Writers' Foundation) Jury Award 2017 A Man of Integrity Best Director Asian Film Awards 2025 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Best Screenplay Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2011 Goodbye Best Feature Film Achievement in Directing 2017 A Man of Integrity Best Feature Film 2021 There Is No Evil Avanca Film Festival 2007 Iron Island Feature Film Prize Best Screenplay Prize Berlin International Film Festival 2020 There Is No Evil Golden Bear Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Guild Film Prize British Academy Film Awards 2025 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Best Film Not in the English Language British Independent Film Awards 2024 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Best International Independent Film Calgary International Film Festival 2020 There Is No Evil Audience Award – International Narrative Feature Cannes Film Festival 2011 Goodbye Prix Un Certain Regard Un Certain Regard – Directing Prize 2013 Manuscripts Don't Burn Prix Un Certain Regard 2017 A Man of Integrity Prix Un Certain Regard Special Award (Prix Spécial) FIPRESCI Prize Prize of the Ecumenical Jury François Chalais Prize Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai César Awards 2025 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Best Foreign Film Chicago International Film Festival 2017 A Man of Integrity Gold Hugo Best Screenplay 2024 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Silver Hugo – Best Screenplay Chlotrudis Society for Independent Films 2007 Iron Island Buried Treasure Cleveland International Film Festival 2021 There Is No Evil International Narrative Competition Crested Butte Film Festival 2020 There Is No Evil Courage in Filmmaking Denver Film Festival 2010 The White Meadows Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Best Feature Film Dubai International Film Festival 2009 The White Meadows Special Jury Prize Durban International Film Festival 2010 The White Meadows Best Feature Film 2012 Goodbye Special Jury Mention European Film Awards 2024 The Seed of the Sacred Fig European Film European Director European Screenwriter Fajr International Film Festival 2003 The Twilight Crystal Simorgh for Best First Film Festival du nouveau cinéma 2005 Iron Island Special Mention Best Screenplay Film Fest Gent 2017 A Man of Integrity Grand Prix Filmfest Hamburg 2005 Iron Island Critics' Choice Award 2013 Manuscripts Don't Burn Political Film of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 2017 A Man of Integrity Critics' Choice Award Films from the South 2020 There Is No Evil Silver Mirror Award Fribourg International Film Festival 2014 Manuscripts Don't Burn Special Mention Grand Prix German Film Awards 2025 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Best Feature Film Best Director Best Screenplay Gijón International Film Festival 2005 Iron Island Special Jury Prize Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival 2017 A Man of Integrity FIPRESCI Prize Heartland International Film Festival 2020 There Is No Evil Grand Prize for Narrative Feature Hong Kong International Film Festival 2012 Goodbye SIGNIS Award International Cinephile Society 2025 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Best Original Screenplay International Film Festival of India 2005 Iron Island Golden Peacock 2017 A Man of Integrity International Film Festival Rotterdam 2012 Goodbye Dioraphte Award Iran Cinema Celebration 2002 The Twilight Best Documentary Jerusalem Film Festival 2017 A Man of Integrity Honorable Mention International Competition Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival 2017 A Man of Integrity Best Film Award (Jaeger-LeCoultre) Los Angeles Film Critics Association 2024 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Best Director Best Film Not in the English Language Lumière Awards 2025 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Best International Co-Production Luxembourg City Film Festival 2014 Manuscripts Don't Burn Grand Prix Milwaukee Film Festival 2012 Goodbye Best Film Best Director Montclair Film Festival 2020 There Is No Evil Fiction Feature Prize National Board of Review 2024 The Seed of the Sacred Fig Best International Film Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award Philadelphia Film Festival 2020 There Is No Evil Audience Award San Sebastián International Film Festival 2009 The White Meadows Golden Shell 2024 The Seed of the Sacred Fig City of Donostia / San Sebastian Audience Award for Best European Film Seattle International Film Festival 2021 There Is No Evil Golden Space Needle Audience Award for Best Film Official Competition Grand Jury Prize Sydney Film Festival 2021 There Is No Evil Sydney Film Prize Tokyo Filmex 2011 Goodbye Grand Prize Toronto Film Critics Association 2023 Special Citation (shared with Jafar Panahi and Mostafa Al-Ahmad) Tribeca Festival 2010 The White Meadows Best Narrative Feature Tromsø International Film Festival 2021 There Is No Evil Norwegian Peace Film Award Valladolid International Film Festival 2018 Honorary Spike 2020 There Is No Evil Special Mention Blogos de Oro Award