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Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof’s new short film, “Sense of Water,” has been acquired for worldwide distribution by Films Boutique, a Berlin and Lyon-based sales company. This marks Rasoulof’s first project since “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” and his initial work filmed outside of Iran.
A Director’s Journey From Imprisonment to Exile
The film reflects Rasoulof’s personal experience after fleeing Iran in May 2024 following a sentence of jail time and flogging for his previous work.
- “Sense of Water” is a 39-minute film premiering at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
- Rasoulof escaped Iran after receiving a sentence for his film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”
- The film explores themes of exile and the struggle to maintain emotional connection to one’s homeland.
- Films Boutique will handle global distribution.
The 39-minute film, set to premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, chronicles the story of an Iranian writer in exile who seeks solace with a former lover, Nazanin, in a remote glass cabin “in the northernmost reaches of the world.” Despite the promise of a new life, the writer, Ali, contemplates a return to Iran, even while facing a lengthy prison sentence.
“There, in the silence of the polar night, he intends to say goodbye. Despite facing a long prison sentence, Ali has decided to return to Iran — to continue the struggle he once left behind,” according to a synopsis of the film.
Rasoulof, in his director’s statement, described how the experience of exile profoundly impacted his relationship with language. “My lived experience in exile was the starting point for this story,” he said. “I suddenly realized that the first thing I had lost was the ability to feel words in a deep, immediate, and intimate way in a second language.”
He further elaborated on the emotional toll of displacement, stating, “A person in exile, striving to build a new life, finds themselves distanced from their most fundamental emotions; as if exile is not only the absence of homeland, but a rupture between words and feelings, between language and experience.”
Jean-Christophe Simon, CEO of Films Boutique, expressed pride in continuing their collaboration with Rasoulof and Run Way Pictures, building on the success of “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” He added that the film’s themes “sadly resonate with the current actuality.”
“Sense of Water” arrives at a particularly poignant moment, given the recent deaths of protesters in Iran. The film was produced by Amin Sadraei, Rozita Hendijanian, and Mani Tilgner of Hamburg’s Run Way Pictures, with support from the Displacement Film Fund (launched by Cate Blanchett), the Hubert Bals Fund, and the Moin Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein.
Rasoulof wrote and directed the film.
