Iranian authorities have questioned members of the filming crew and actors in the film by acclaimed director Mohammad Rasoulof, which will be shown in the official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, the cast's lawyer said. People who worked on “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” ” (“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”, in literal translation) were pressured to have the film removed from the festival and the actors were banned from leaving the country, lawyer Babak Paknia wrote on Tuesday on the social network X (formerly Twitter ).Rasoulof, who in 2020 won the Golden Bear, the highest award at the Berlin Film Festival, with his anti-capital punishment film “Evil Does Not Exist”, was arrested in July 2022. He was released at the end of 2023, after anti-government protests that began in September 2022 have gradually subsided. Paknia added that some actors and crew members were “interrogated” this week and last week and that some artists were banned from leaving the country. “After several hours interrogation, they were asked to ask the director to withdraw the film from the Cannes Film Festival,” he added. It was not clear how many people were questioned. It is also unknown whether Rasoulof will be able to leave Iran to attend the ceremony, which will take place in the French Mediterranean city from May 14 to 25. Both the film's theme and its cast remain secret. Going to the Cannes Film Festival has become It has become increasingly difficult for Iranian directors and actors in recent years. Director Saeed Roustaee, for example, was sentenced to six months in prison for showing his film “The Brothers of Leila” in the 2022 edition. Islamists claimed that the film was shown without authorization. Its protagonist, Taraneh Alidoosti, was released in early 2023 after spending almost three weeks in prison for supporting the protest movement triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, after having been arrested for alleged non-compliance with the country's strict women's dress code.