By Marta Balaga Plus Icon

Variety

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” was Oscar nominated, is considering making a film in another language.

“If I’d want to make a film in Europe right now, or in the West, everything’s ready,” he told Variety before accepting the first-ever Locarno City of Peace Award.

“The question is not when to start making it. The question that concerns me more is this: ‘Who am I? What does it mean to be me? Where do I continue my struggle?’ That’s what will inform my next work.”

Rasoulof fled Iran after being sentenced to eight years in prison.

“When you’re making a film in a foreign country, in a foreign language, obviously you need time to really grapple with the society you want to reflect in a deep, meaningful way. You have to really understand it and submerge yourself in it. What concerns me, I think, is that I come from a traumatic and difficult personal history, which at the same time is the basis for my creative work.”

Rasoulof has been open about his difficult time in Iranian jails, admitting he watched his film “There Is No Evil” with his own prison guards.

There are “a few stories right now I am very interested in,” he said. “I find it very interesting to face people from different cultures. But then I say to myself: ‘Shouldn’t I do something more important?’”

At the moment, he feels stuck “in between places,” which is something many people can understand these days regardless of their roots, suggested Variety during the conversation.

“But that’s the thing: Do I want to be more universal? Or do I want to pay my dues?,” he wondered. “I have a sense of responsibility toward the place I belong to. You know, I’ve been told my films are not going to make it into the history of cinema because they have too much to do with our daily life. But why would I want to enter the history of cinema when I cannot be free?”

According to Rasoulof, regimes tend to “distract artists from paying attention to and telling the story of what’s happening around them.” He added, “I have a lot of philosophical questions about life and about existence – a lot. But how can I be thinking about that when people I know happen to be in prison and then that prison is hit by a missile?”

He continued, “I can’t just sit here and not think about my people. I’m drinking some water and remember that in Tehran, because of the regime’s negligence, they don’t have access to it. I’m being constantly catapulted into Iran also in my personal, private life.”

The question he’s asking himself these days is this: “What’s my priority? And where do I belong?”

“I’m here physically, but I’m there mentally.”

History has many important stories to tell, he said. “Brazil is a country that underwent political changes, but its filmmakers are still looking at their past. I don’t think you should have to choose between freedom and creativity. They shouldn’t be weighed against each other. It’s not like once you achieve freedom, you lose your artistic creativity.”

The Locarno City of Peace Award – established by the city of Locarno in collaboration with the fest and set to be presented biennially – honors “figures from the cultural space who have distinguished themselves in promoting peace, diplomacy and dialogue among peoples.”

Jurors Ruth Dreifuss, Laura Sadis, Marco Solari, Raphaël Brunschwig and Locarno’s mayor Nicola Pini praised the director for “combining formal rigor with civic engagement.”

Rasoulof understands he can’t just talk about his films, he said. In the end, he’s always talking about his country as well.

“Of course it’s difficult, having to explain the situation in Iran every single time, especially because it’s so complex and contradictory. It’s a de facto war. But I can’t just sit here and not think of my Iranian colleagues and the enormous pressures they’re facing.”

After “The Seed of a Sacred Fig” triumphant festival run, Iranian cinema has continued its ubiquity with Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or win for “It Was Just an Accident” and Soheil Beiraghi’s “Bidad” award at Karlovy Vary, making it impossible to ignore. Still, any change in Iran would “depend on lots of different factors – not just on cinema,” stressed Rasoulof.

“Cinema is more dependent on changes in society [than the other way around]. But the society in Iran is moving at a neck-breaking speed.”