My wife and I were able to see The Stoning of Soraya M. last night. The movie was intense and disturbing, featuring a gripping plot line with fantastic acting, an excellent script, and great camera work. The character development of Soraya and Zahra was superb. The filming was done in Jordan and the movie is mostly in Farsi with English subtitles. It was incredibly realistic, and as the story line built to a crescendo the horror of the betrayal and human suffering were almost unbearable. The R rating is appropriate given the theme and the violence. This is the kind of movie that is worth seeing to be reminded that many, many real people in this world (particularly women) suffer tremendously due to the strictures of Sharia Law. In many cases, as in this movie, the defendant is completely innocent — indeed, is framed by evil men for the sake of dishonest gain.
The highlight for us was when we were exiting the theater it turned out that The World Affairs Council of Orange County was hosting an event that night. We had no idea about it. Anyway, lead actress and Academy Award nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (who plays the heroic character Zahra) was there as was Navid Negahban (who plays the wicked husband Ali) along with the writer and director Cyrus Nowrasteh (who also wrote The Path To 9-11, an outstanding documentary aired on ABC in 2006 and viewed by twenty-eight million people). Tommy Papa, the managing director of the film, was also there. So we had a good time talking to them a bit, and we were even permitted to film a few brief video interviews, which I will be posting soon.
Go see this movie (here are the theater listings) as soon as you can. You will not regret it. It will powerfully move you. The film is worthy of our support. May it lead to the advance of liberty and equal rights in Iran and beyond.
Here’s a shot of me with Shohreh Aghdashloo:
