‘Anora,’ ‘The Brutalist,’ ‘Emilia Pérez’ Showcase the Work of Writer-Directors

variety.com:

Nick Clement In a year full of bold cinematic achievements, many of the stories attracting awards attention are driven by their filmmakers’ consuming passion not just to direct but write them as well.

Their identification of projects demanding to be brought to life in a very specific aesthetic key — from page to screen — imbues the resulting work with unique personality and hopefully deeper emotional connections from audiences.

Among a wide spectrum of visions drawn from deep personal investment, Mohammad Rasoulof’s drama “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” revolves around a family man and judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court contending with personal and societal unrest during a period of nationwide political protests.

To amplify the story’s intensity, Rasoulof blended images of real Iranian protests into his fictional narrative, prompting anger from Iranian authorities who sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence, forcing the filmmaker into exile.