DGA Monthly

N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 4 I 2 5 Want to find more ways to help your fellow members of the DGA? Then visit the new DGA Outreach Team (OT) page on www.dga.org. The OT has become a vital force within the Guild, originating from a grassroots effort during the 2023 contract negotiations. Led by four co-chairs representing diverse classifications across the country and Directorial team, this group of hundreds of member volunteers helped play a crucial role in keeping thousands of fellow DGA members informed throughout the negotiation process. Their dedication and unity were instrumental in achieving a successfully ratified contract. Building on this momentum, the OT continues to educate members about contract gains and share important Guild information every quarter through OT Leader meetings. They foster a sense of community, enhance communication, and provide advocacy tools, ensuring a strong foundation for future negotiations. The new OT webpage features PDFs with valuable information including: • A Creative Rights Checklist • Episodic Director Creative Rights, Expanded Post Production Rights and Non-Dramatic Subscription Streaming (SVOD) Terms • Extended Day Rules for ADs • Distant Hire Terms for ADs & UPMs. • Non-Dramatic High Budget SVOD Terms for AD/SM/PAs • and more DGA Launches Outreach Team Web Page Members interested in learning more about the Outreach Team or in joining this impactful initiative are encouraged to visit the Outreach Team hub at www.dga.org/The-Guild/DGA-Outreach-Team. A devout and honest lawyer finds himself and his family thrust into the public eye when he is appointed as an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. As political unrest erupts in the streets, he realizes that his job is even more dangerous than expected, making him increasingly paranoid and distrustful, even of his own wife and daughters. Shot entirely in secret, Director Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Danaye anjir-e moabad) is a fictional narrative combined with real images of the protests that were violently suppressed by the Iranian authorities. While shooting the film he was sentenced to eight years in prison before successfully fleeing to Germany. The film earned Rasoulof the Jury Special Prize and the Fipresci Award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or. It is Germany's official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. After the Eastern Region Special Projects Committee Global Cinema Series screening in New York, Rasoulof discussed the making of the film during a Q&A moderated by Director Ramin Bahrani, and with the assistance of translator Dr. Sheida Dayani, he revealed how the mixing of styles in the film was born out of the unusual circumstances behind its production. "I realized that the metaphorical language I had in my earliest films was a product of my fear of the government and almost self-censorship. I decided that I no longer wanted to be subject to that fear that forces me to use a metaphorical and an allegorical language and I want to be straightforward in my films. After I realized that it is no longer fear that is forming my language, I wanted to find a middle ground between reality and allegory or metaphor. Because this film was made clandestinely, I was always at a certain distance. I wasn't really on set. It depended on how much we thought we were in danger. It felt like being in surgery and operating without entering a patient's body. Because I thought I was going to have to serve those eight years before finishing this film, I always had a sense of, 'I'm going to do whatever I please with this film' so it gave me a sense of freedom. And this need for freedom and emancipation even liberated me from my commitments to cinematic form so I got rid of anything that was holding me within and I was able to do what I pleased." Photo: Director Mohammad Rasoulof (right), translator Dr. Sheida Dayani and Director Ramin Bahrani (moderator) discuss Rasoulof's drama from Germany, The Seed of the Sacred Fig on September 30 in New York. Global Cinema Series Screens Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig photo by Marcie Revens See more detailed descriptions, additional photos and video, where available, online at www.dga.org. See more detailed descriptions, additional photos and video, where available, online at www.dga.org. See more detailed descriptions, additional photos and video, where available, online at www.dga.org. DGA Events Roundup

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