Before starring in Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s latest film, Wild fig seeds (in cinemas on 18 September), filmed without permission in Iran, had never met. Mahsa Rostami, 32, Niousha Akhshi, 31, and Setareh Maleki, 32, who now live in Berlin, already had one thing in common: after the death in police custody of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in September 2022, the three actresses had resolved not to accept any further compromises with those in power. With more than five hundred people killed in the protests that followed, it was no longer possible for them to continue their profession as if nothing had happened. This earned them exile.
“After the uprising, I refused all so-called “official” film and theatre offers, those that involved covering my hair, says Setareh Maleki, contacted in Berlin. If she had agreed to wear the veil on stage or in front of the camera, it would have been tantamount to normalizing what has, for years, been a tool of repression for women. » Before leaving Iran, Mahsa Rostami, Niousha Akhshi and Setareh Maleki performed bareheaded in short films and underground plays. “I will never forget the first time I felt the wind in my long hair, while performing an artistic performance in the open air. explains Mahsa Rostami. It was like I had finally made peace with my body. »
In the autumn of 2023, the three Iranian women each received a phone call asking them to star in a film, without a veil, but without being told the name of the director. Seduced by the story, which takes place at the heart of the protests of late 2022, they accepted. “When the film crew asked me to read the script in front of them, I couldn’t help but cry. Mahsa Rostami remembers. It was what I needed to express my anger. » “The day before the shooting, Mohammad Rasoulof came into the room where I was, remember niusha akhshi. Then I told myself that I had made the right decision by agreeing to act in this film. »
Emblematic figure of the resistance
Having under his belt committed feature films such as A man of integrity, Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes in 2017, and The devil does not exist, Winner of the Golden Bear at Berlinale in 2021, the Iranian director has established himself in the world of cinema as an emblematic figure of resistance to the power of the mullahs.
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