There Is No Evil
Synopsis
Every society that enforces the death penalty needs people to kill other people. Four men are put in front of an unthinkable but simple choice. Whatever they decide, it will directly or indirectly corrode themselves, their relationships, and their entire lives.
My motivation for making this film is to analyze the circumstances of a society that forces people to be obedient subjects. My current situation and past experiences have obliged me to confront various forms of this veiled subjugation. Again, and again friends have urged me to flee Iran. When my last film “A man of Integrity” was shown in Cannes in 2017, the rulers dramatically increased their pressure on me. For my previous films, I was punished with deprivation of my freedom and banned from leaving the country.
Director's Statement
Mohammad Rasoulof
Director
Mohammad Rasoulof (born 1972 in Shiraz, Iran) is an Iranian independent filmmaker. He studied sociology in Tehran.
His first feature-length film, The Twilight (Gagooman), was released in 2002 and was awarded with the Crystal Simorgh for the Best First Film at the Fajr Film Festival in Tehran. His second feature, Iron Island (Jazire-ye ahani), was released in 2005. His feature The White Meadows (Keshtzarha-ye sepid) was released in 2009.
Goodbye (Be omid-e didar) premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival in the section Un Certain Regard and won the prize for directing. His film Manuscripts Don’t Burn was also screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where it won the FIPRESCI Prize. A Man of Integrity won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. There Is No Evil was awarded the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in 2020.