(FILES) (FromL) Iranian actress Setareh Maleki, Iranian director and producer Mohammad Rasoulof and hold Iranian actress Mahsa Rostami portraits of Iranian actor Missagh Zareh (R) and Iranian actress Soheila Golestani as they pose during a photocall for the film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 25, 2024. Forced to flee Iran, dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof says it is bittersweet that his latest movie will contend at the Oscars -- under the banner of another country. "The Seed of the Sacred Fig," a paranoid thriller that was shot in secret and depicts a family torn apart by Iran's brutally repressive politics, has earned rave reviews and won many festival prizes, including at Cannes. But each country can submit just one movie for the best international film Oscar, and in authoritarian countries like Iran, that choice of film is made by state-controlled organizations. "Of course, it is unimaginable that the Islamic Republic could have submitted a film like this for the Academy Awards," Rasoulof told AFP. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP) (Photo by VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)