the Ecumenical Jury Prize awarded to the Seeds of the Fig Tree

Chaired this year by British-Rwandan Julienne Munyaneza, the ecumenical jury awarded its prize to Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof for his film The seeds of the fig tree.

Screened at the end of the festival, this engaging feature film produced a real shock wave on the Cannes public. It depicts a father under the influence of the Iranian regime and whose political choices are called into question by his own daughters, even within family privacy.

“When religion combines with political power and patriarchy, it can destroy people's most intimate relationships and dignity, as this Iranian family drama embodies,” the jurors said.

The Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival

Presented by six members of different Christian denominations who evaluate the competing films according to their spiritual and ethical impact, the ecumenical prize was created in 1974. For fifty years, the winning works have been chosen for their ability to highlight universal humanist values.

To mark his 50th anniversary, a special prize was awarded to German director Wim Wenders for his entire career. “What is important about this prize is the little text which explains why the jury is giving it. The one written for my film Paris, Texas (Palme d’Or and Ecumenical Prize, in 1984) made me very happy: I said to myself that the jury had really understood my work,” testified the filmmaker during the moving ceremony on Saturday May 25.