"In the Arms of the Tree" has been selected as Iran’s official submission for the 2025 Academy Awards, as the industry grapples with polarization between state-approved productions and an emerging underground movement defying hijab regulations.
His death followed reports on September 2 about his deteriorating health, though IRGC-affiliated Fars website had initially denied the severity of his condition.
A longtime member of Iran's security apparatus, Seraj was designated by the US Treasury Department last year for his role in overseas assassination plots and human rights abuses in Iran.
He had earlier served as the head of the Special IRGC Intelligence Directorate, also known as Unit 4000, before being removed after a plot to assassinate an Israeli in Cyprus was uncovered. Following his removal, Javad Ghaffari, a figure expelled from Syria, took over the leadership of this unit.
In the last years of his life, the IRGC brigadier general held the position of spokesperson and deputy for communications at the Supreme National Security Council. However, Seraj came to be recognized for his human rights violations.
Starting his career in the 1990s, Seraj rose through the ranks as a senior interrogator within the IRGC Intelligence. Operating under the alias "Alavi," he became known as “the chief interrogator for many political and student activists, extracting forced confessions through pressure and torture.”
His actions during this period left a mark on the lives of many activists, including Ali Afshari, a political figure who in an interview with Iran International identified Seraj as the lead interrogator during his 2000 arrest.
Ahmad Batebi, a journalist at VOA Farsi also wrote on X: “This accursed individual was one of those who played a significant role in torturing me during interrogation and applying psychological pressure to force a false confession in front of state TV cameras. He also tortured many students and political activists to fit them into the absurd scenarios created by the security agencies.”
Seraj was also appointed head of the Student Basij and later appeared as an "analyst and academic" regularly featured in state-controlled media. As the head of the Student Basij, he was actively involved in suppressing students during the 2009 protests, according to Dadgostar, a site documenting human rights violators in Iran.
Throughout his career, Seraj held various roles within the IRGC, including the political deputy of Sarallah Headquarters in Tehran, deputy head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, and head of the Prophet Muhammad faculty and Imam Hossein University.
In addition to his political and security roles, Seraj was also involved in the interrogation and torture of Fahimeh Dorri Nogourani, the wife of Saeed Emami, a former Deputy Minister of Intelligence.
Seraj was also one of the commanders responsible for the attack on political prisoners in Ward 350 of Evin Prison on April 17, 2014, an incident that came to be known as the Black Thursday of Evin.
In the aftermath of the attack, political prisoner Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani reported that Seraj had personally escalated his sentence from three years in prison to execution. Khosravi was hanged less than two months later, on June 1, 2014, in Rajai-Shahr Prison.
Hossein Salami, IRGC Commander-in-Chief, praised Seraj in a statement on Saturday, calling him "effective" in confronting what he described as the "sedition movement," a reference to anti-government protests. Salami said, “Seraj played a significant role in confronting sedition … and raising awareness in dealing with various deviations that threatened the Islamic Revolution.”
Since 2022, hundreds of Iranian families have marked the beginning of fall by grieving the loss of their loved ones, who were killed during nationwide anti-state protests.
Each day has become a solemn anniversary of a protester’s death, as the uprising against the state continues to resonate deeply among Iranian society.
These families have remained in mourning, affected by the regime's brutal crackdown on protesters that followed the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini while in the custody of the so-called morality police on September 13, two years ago.
Amini was detained by agents for allegedly violating state-imposed Islamic hijab regulations. Her family has consistently asserted that the head injuries she sustained while in custody led to her death three days later at Kasra Hospital in Tehran. The UN has since held the Iranian state responsible for her death.
On Friday, her father, Amjad Amini, posted a message on Instagram to commemorate his daughter's birthday, which also falls in September. He wrote: "My beautiful, innocent, and dear daughter, my beloved Jina, Mahsa of Iran—today marks the blessed anniversary of your blooming."
Amini expressed his enduring sorrow, writing: “Even after two years, we continue to carry the weight of that bitter day, finding solace only in the fact that your beautiful name is still spoken with grace and purity. Your memory remains forever etched in our hearts and in the hearts of those who love you.”
Human rights organizations estimate that throughout the months-long nationwide protests, at least 551 protesters, including 68 children and 49 women, were killed at the hands of state security forces.
This year, while some families have held memorials in private settings, others have observed the occasion in different ways, as public mourning remains restricted by authorities. For example, the Al-Jawad cemetery in Nowshahr, where several victims of the movement are buried, was sealed off with chains, and public access was restricted starting on Thursday.
As the second anniversary of Nika Shakarami's death, one of the teenage protesters killed amid the anti-state protests, approached on Friday, her family reported that authorities had blocked the routes leading to the cemetery where she was buried, preventing them from visiting her grave.
On Friday, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi marked the second anniversary of Shakarami's murder with a statement on Instagram.
"The killing of 16-year-old Nika Shakarami, like the murder of hundreds of other young people and children, is a stark example of the Islamic Republic's crimes against humanity," Ebadi wrote.
The lawyer and former judge further remarked, "The government is attempting to render the pursuit of justice meaningless."
Leila Mahdavi, the mother of 16-year-old Siavash Mahmoudi, who was killed during the protests, marked the second anniversary of her son's death on Thursday by sharing images from a memorial ceremony held in his honor, seemingly in a private venue, on Instagram, where she firmly stated: "Your killers will face the consequences for what they have done."
Hasti Khazaei, sister of Erfan Khazaei, another victim of the uprising, shared a video on Instagram from a memorial event marking the second anniversary of her brother’s passing.
Accompanying the video, she wrote: “In the name of joy that was taken from us, stolen, denied, killed, and buried. In the name of the wedding attire you never wore, whose absence lingers in our hearts forever. In the name of the love that radiated within you, my dear brother. In the name of your sweet life that was cut short.”
As the anniversary of those killed during the uprising approached, the Islamic Republic has, over the past month, escalated its pressure on grieving families across Iran.
A renewed wave of repression, aimed at civil and political activists as well as the families of the victims, began in September. During this time, dozens of citizens have been arrested, summoned, or subjected to interrogation by security forces.
The decision was announced by the Farabi Cinema Foundation, which revealed that the film, directed by Babak Khajeh Pasha, had been chosen after a 10-day deliberation process by a nine-member selection committee.
According to official government news website IRNA, the selection committee, tasked with reviewing eligible films for the Oscars, voted in favor of "In the Arms of the Tree" over two other finalists. The nine-member panel included figures in Iranian cinema, such as Narges Abyar, Shabnam Moghaddami, Fereydoun Jeyrani, Ali Dehkordi, and others.
"In the Arms of the Tree" tells the story of Kimia and Farid, a couple married for twelve years, whose life crisis shatters their children’s world. The main roles in this Iranian drama are played by Maral Baniadam, Javad Ghamati, and Rouhollah Zamani.
The submission follows a process overseen by the Farabi Cinema Foundation, which operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture. The Foundation is responsible for ensuring that the chosen film complies with the guidelines imposed by the government, including adherence to censorship laws and the mandatory hijab requirement for actresses. These regulations have long governed the selection process for Iran’s official Academy Award submissions.
While "In the Arms of the Tree" will represent Iran at the Oscars, a parallel trend within the country's film industry has gained momentum in recent years, particularly following the nationwide Women, Life, Freedom protests. The protests, which began in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, have sparked a new wave of dissent within various cultural and artistic spheres, including cinema.
Iranian filmmakers, many of whom operate outside the official framework, have turned to producing films that violate the Islamic Republic's censorship laws, particularly its restrictions on the portrayal of women and political dissent. These films, while barred from official submission to the Oscars, have found success at other international film festivals and in global cinema markets, highlighting the growing divide between state-approved and underground cinema in Iran.
include "Critical Zone" by Ali Ahmadzadeh, which presents a raw and unfiltered depiction of contemporary life in Tehran. The film, which focuses on a drug dealer's interactions with marginalized individuals, was produced without government approval and violates mandatory hijab rules. Despite this, it won the Best Film Award at the Locarno Film Festival in 2023.
Similarly, "Terrestrial Verses", directed by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami, offers a direct critique of the societal pressures faced by Iranian citizens. The episodic film premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and has since gained a wide audience in Europe, with over 100,000 viewers in France alone and total sales nearing $900,000.
Iran’s underground filmmakers have increasingly used cinema as a tool for resistance against government cultural restrictions. Many of these films explicitly challenge the censorship laws that govern official submissions, focusing on themes of repression, personal freedom, and social dissent.
For instance, Navid Mihan-Doost’s "Café" portrays the life of a filmmaker who is banned from working by the authorities. Shot while Mihan-Doost was on temporary leave from prison, the film provides a look at the challenges faced by critical artists in Iran. Café has been screened at various international festivals despite its director being under surveillance, and its portrayal of state censorship has drawn international acclaim.
Films such as "Dark Matter" by Karim Lakzadeh and "My Favorite Cake" by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeiha have further pushed the boundaries of Iran’s underground cinema.
"Dark Matter" tells the story of a young woman’s decision to remove her hijab during a film shoot, symbolizing the growing youth culture of defiance against government-imposed restrictions. Meanwhile, "My Favorite Cake," which focuses on a woman seeking to break free from the constraints of her monotonous life, gained international attention for its success at the 2023 Berlin Film Festival despite violating the country’s hijab laws.
