Argo satirises the events of the Iran hostage crisis, yet, despite being branded 'an offensive act' and added to a list of 'anti-Iranian' films, Affleck's approach is strangely apologetic
In December 1979, a handmade placard outside the occupied Us embassy in Tehran read: "As an Iranian I want you corresponders + journalists + film-takers [to] tell the truth to the world." Whatever the truths of the Iranian revolution – most would agree it began as a popular uprising driven in part by plausible claims against Us policies – film-makers addressing its aftermath from inside Iran have had to depend on allegorical techniques, while those free to address it less obliquely from abroad have had much read into their motives.
Iran's rulers regard foreign productions on Iranian subjects – whether by émigrés or non-Iranians – with prejudice. Warnings of "soft war" and "psychological warfare" waged through culture and entertainment are a recurring theme in Iranian state media. Such...
In December 1979, a handmade placard outside the occupied Us embassy in Tehran read: "As an Iranian I want you corresponders + journalists + film-takers [to] tell the truth to the world." Whatever the truths of the Iranian revolution – most would agree it began as a popular uprising driven in part by plausible claims against Us policies – film-makers addressing its aftermath from inside Iran have had to depend on allegorical techniques, while those free to address it less obliquely from abroad have had much read into their motives.
Iran's rulers regard foreign productions on Iranian subjects – whether by émigrés or non-Iranians – with prejudice. Warnings of "soft war" and "psychological warfare" waged through culture and entertainment are a recurring theme in Iranian state media. Such...
- 11/8/2012
- by Roland Elliott Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
This is the review of the Stoning of Soraya M, starring Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mozhan Marnò, James Caviezel, Navid Negahban, Ali Pourtash, David Diaan, Parviz Sayyad, Vida Ghahremani and Vachik Mangassarian. The film is directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh. When thinking of a film that shows bravery and heroism, and a battle between the power-hungry, and those that fight for truth, any number of blockbuster movies may spring to mind. Yet the heroism and bravery in this film does not have a CGI background, nor does it have futuristic gadgets or fast cars. But what this film has more than any other I have seen in recent years, if ever before, is a soul. The Stoning of Soraya M tells the story of the true events leading up to the stoning of an innocent woman in Iran in 1986. It is only because of the bravery and heroism of Soraya’s aunt, Zahra,...
- 10/23/2010
- by Gabriella Apicella
- Pure Movies
The appalling true story of an Iranian woman stoned for adultery is let down by wooden acting and syrupy music
No reasonable person can doubt that the sharia practice of stoning a woman to death for supposed "adultery" is utterly grotesque – as is the cringing reluctance of some on the western left to condemn it, for fear of being branded Islamophobic. But this issue deserved something more substantial than this well-intentioned, but laboured and woodenly acted film, based on a true story. James Caviezel plays Freidoune Sahebjam, the Franco-Iranian journalist who in 1986 uncovered a case of stoning in Iran. Shohreh Aghdashloo plays Zahra, the accused's aunt, who defiantly challenges the verdict against Soraya (Mozhan Marnò), convicted on a charge trumped up by a scheming, adulterous husband and sinister cleric. The group psychosis is chilling, but the film itself is uncertainly handled, and the syrupy-sorrowing music is misjudged. Caviezel's presence is...
No reasonable person can doubt that the sharia practice of stoning a woman to death for supposed "adultery" is utterly grotesque – as is the cringing reluctance of some on the western left to condemn it, for fear of being branded Islamophobic. But this issue deserved something more substantial than this well-intentioned, but laboured and woodenly acted film, based on a true story. James Caviezel plays Freidoune Sahebjam, the Franco-Iranian journalist who in 1986 uncovered a case of stoning in Iran. Shohreh Aghdashloo plays Zahra, the accused's aunt, who defiantly challenges the verdict against Soraya (Mozhan Marnò), convicted on a charge trumped up by a scheming, adulterous husband and sinister cleric. The group psychosis is chilling, but the film itself is uncertainly handled, and the syrupy-sorrowing music is misjudged. Caviezel's presence is...
- 10/21/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The Iranian-American moviemaker Cyrus Nowrasteh has brought his experience of TV documentaries to bear on the true story of an Iranian woman, Soraya M, framed as an adulterer by her husband in the early years of Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran and stoned to death by her fellow villagers. Her elderly father is compelled by the town's mayor and a corrupt mullah to cast the first stone.
James Caviezel (chosen, no doubt, because he had the title role in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ) plays the Franco-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, on whose book the film is based, but the chief role is taken by the magnificent Shohreh Aghdashloo as the conscience of the village. This widow puts her life on the line to tell him about the legal murder of her niece under sharia in the hope he will bring the news to the world.
The craven community is persuasively created,...
James Caviezel (chosen, no doubt, because he had the title role in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ) plays the Franco-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, on whose book the film is based, but the chief role is taken by the magnificent Shohreh Aghdashloo as the conscience of the village. This widow puts her life on the line to tell him about the legal murder of her niece under sharia in the hope he will bring the news to the world.
The craven community is persuasively created,...
- 10/16/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Accent Film Entertainment provided copies of two of its releases: The Stoning of Soraya M and Collapse.
The Stoning of Soraya M is based on a 1994 book by the late French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, which introduces us to Zahra, a courageous who tells a passing journalist the shocking events that led to the ‘legalised’ murder of her niece, Soraya, falsely accused of adultery by a husband who wished to be rid of her in order to marry a 14 year-old girl.
Collapse is a documentary that has been described as “an intellectual horror movie”; a portrait of Us investigative journalist and former policeman Michael Ruppert.
To win, email miguel@focalattractions.com.au and tell us the name of three other films distributed by Accent Film Entertainment. Please specify if you would like a copy of The Stoning of Soraya M or Collapse.
The Stoning of Soraya M is based on a 1994 book by the late French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, which introduces us to Zahra, a courageous who tells a passing journalist the shocking events that led to the ‘legalised’ murder of her niece, Soraya, falsely accused of adultery by a husband who wished to be rid of her in order to marry a 14 year-old girl.
Collapse is a documentary that has been described as “an intellectual horror movie”; a portrait of Us investigative journalist and former policeman Michael Ruppert.
To win, email miguel@focalattractions.com.au and tell us the name of three other films distributed by Accent Film Entertainment. Please specify if you would like a copy of The Stoning of Soraya M or Collapse.
- 9/30/2010
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
In 1994, an Iranian-born, French journalist named Freidoune Sahebjam released a book entitled The Stoning of Soraya M., detailing the accounts of a woman who witnessed the tragic and barbaric death of her niece at the hands of an entire village.
I don't have to tell you who the person is, or how she died, because it's all in the title. One can imagine that there are both feelings of nausea and a lack of suspense while watching, because we know what's coming up. We see what the title is, and on the film's cover is a woman buried waist-deep with bloody rocks strewn on the ground around her. I remember feeling the same way when I saw The Passion of the Christ, whose producers are behind Soraya M.'s creation. The stories of both movies are pretty similar, too: a person is betrayed, accused and sentenced to death in an unbelievably brutal and torturous manner.
I don't have to tell you who the person is, or how she died, because it's all in the title. One can imagine that there are both feelings of nausea and a lack of suspense while watching, because we know what's coming up. We see what the title is, and on the film's cover is a woman buried waist-deep with bloody rocks strewn on the ground around her. I remember feeling the same way when I saw The Passion of the Christ, whose producers are behind Soraya M.'s creation. The stories of both movies are pretty similar, too: a person is betrayed, accused and sentenced to death in an unbelievably brutal and torturous manner.
- 3/18/2010
- by Ryan Katona
- JustPressPlay.net
Chicago – Who in the world would want to see this film? It’s as excruciating and appalling as the title promises, complete with simplistic depictions of good and evil. Like the bestselling novel from which it’s based, the film aims to raise global awareness about the Islamic practice of stoning women to death, a fundamentalist tradition that still occurs today. Yet are the filmmakers harboring deeper intentions?
It’s impossible to see “The Stoning of Soraya M.” without thinking of the film that it resembles down to its very title: “The Passion of the Christ.” Both films were produced by Steve McEveety, whose company Mpower Pictures markets films to a decidedly right-wing Christian audience. His rollicking patriotic comedy “An American Carol” reduced suicide bombers to sight gags, while “Stoning” reduces the vast majority of its Islamic characters to a bloodthirsty mob indiscernible from the Jews in “Passion.” Does McEveety...
It’s impossible to see “The Stoning of Soraya M.” without thinking of the film that it resembles down to its very title: “The Passion of the Christ.” Both films were produced by Steve McEveety, whose company Mpower Pictures markets films to a decidedly right-wing Christian audience. His rollicking patriotic comedy “An American Carol” reduced suicide bombers to sight gags, while “Stoning” reduces the vast majority of its Islamic characters to a bloodthirsty mob indiscernible from the Jews in “Passion.” Does McEveety...
- 3/16/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
When an Iranian French journalist happened into the small Iran village after his car broke down on the outskirts of town, his life changed forever. Without knowing it, he was about to embark on a journey that would enlighten the world and give a voice to those who cannot use it. Upon entering the small dusty village, journalist Freidoune Sahebjam played by Jim Caviezel was bombarded with a story of an innocent woman whose battle for freedom and truth ended her life. The Stoning of Soraya M. is more than just a movie; it is victory for those who have been oppressed and kept quiet for years. Walking into the dilapidated village, Freidoune Sahebjam was approached by a woman who would stop at nothing until she was heard. The woman was Zahra, the aunt of Soraya M., and she had a story that would shock and disturb the rest of the world.
- 7/19/2009
- by cjoyce@corp.popstar.com (Colleen Joyce)
- ScreenStar
tMF is introducing a new feature called tMF Indie Spotlight - where we get to focus on some of the most exciting, innovative and thought-provoking independent films soon to be shown on the big screen. In our first post, we're featuring the critically-acclaimed The Stoning of Soraya M.
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Comments SoYun Kim, the PR Interactive director of the Palisades Mediagroup:
This film is so timely especially in light of what is happening in Iran and the need for change. As the title suggests this film is about stoning - the brutal form of punishment usually for women. The intent of the film is to bring awareness that this is still practiced today and hopefully to end it forever.
It already won the Audience Award for best picture at this year's Los Angeles Film Festival and is consistently receiving rave reviews from critics.
I had the...
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Comments SoYun Kim, the PR Interactive director of the Palisades Mediagroup:
This film is so timely especially in light of what is happening in Iran and the need for change. As the title suggests this film is about stoning - the brutal form of punishment usually for women. The intent of the film is to bring awareness that this is still practiced today and hopefully to end it forever.
It already won the Audience Award for best picture at this year's Los Angeles Film Festival and is consistently receiving rave reviews from critics.
I had the...
- 7/8/2009
- The Movie Fanatic
tMF is introducing a new feature called tMF Indie Spotlight - where we get to focus on some of the most exciting, innovative and thought-provoking independent films soon to be shown on the big screen. In our first post, we're featuring the critically-acclaimed The Stoning of Soraya M.
- - -
- - -
Comments SoYun Kim, the PR Interactive director of the Palisades Mediagroup:
This film is so timely especially in light of what is happening in Iran and the need for change. As the title suggests this film is about stoning - the brutal form of punishment usually for women. The intent of the film is to bring awareness that this is still practiced today and hopefully to end it forever.
It already won the Audience Award for best picture at this year's Los Angeles Film Festival and is consistently receiving rave reviews from critics.
I had the...
- - -
- - -
Comments SoYun Kim, the PR Interactive director of the Palisades Mediagroup:
This film is so timely especially in light of what is happening in Iran and the need for change. As the title suggests this film is about stoning - the brutal form of punishment usually for women. The intent of the film is to bring awareness that this is still practiced today and hopefully to end it forever.
It already won the Audience Award for best picture at this year's Los Angeles Film Festival and is consistently receiving rave reviews from critics.
I had the...
- 7/8/2009
- The Movie Fanatic
tMF is introducing a new feature called tMF Indie Spotlight - where we get to focus on some of the most exciting, innovative and thought-provoking independent films soon to be shown on the big screen. In our first post, we're featuring the critically-acclaimed The Stoning of Soraya M.
- - -
- - -
Comments SoYun Kim, the PR Interactive director of the Palisades Mediagroup:
This film is so timely especially in light of what is happening in Iran and the need for change. As the title suggests this film is about stoning - the brutal form of punishment usually for women. The intent of the film is to bring awareness that this is still practiced today and hopefully to end it forever.
It already won the Audience Award for best picture at this year's Los Angeles Film Festival and is consistently receiving rave reviews from critics.
I had the...
- - -
- - -
Comments SoYun Kim, the PR Interactive director of the Palisades Mediagroup:
This film is so timely especially in light of what is happening in Iran and the need for change. As the title suggests this film is about stoning - the brutal form of punishment usually for women. The intent of the film is to bring awareness that this is still practiced today and hopefully to end it forever.
It already won the Audience Award for best picture at this year's Los Angeles Film Festival and is consistently receiving rave reviews from critics.
I had the...
- 7/8/2009
- The Movie Fanatic
In The Stoning of Soraya M., now playing in select theaters, Shohreh Aghdashloo stars as an Iranian woman who tells a journalist (James Caviezel) about the unjust and brutal death of her innocent niece (Mozhan Marno). The movie is based on Freidoune Sahebjam's 1994 novel of the same name. Both tell the true story of an Iranian village's persecution of an innocent woman.
Aghdashloo's performance in 2003's House of Sand and Fog earned her an Academy Award nomination. She joins Leonard Maltin on the next Secret's Out to talk about her new movie, which is also featured on the show. Tune in for the premiere on Friday, July 10, at 10:30 Pm Et / 7:30 Pm Pt. Or catch one of its encore showings.
Next Showing:
The Stoning of Soraya M. - Trailer
A film based on a true-life tragedy
Link | Posted 6/30/2009 by reelz
Leonard Maltin's Secret's Out | Shohreh Aghdashloo | Leonard Maltin...
Aghdashloo's performance in 2003's House of Sand and Fog earned her an Academy Award nomination. She joins Leonard Maltin on the next Secret's Out to talk about her new movie, which is also featured on the show. Tune in for the premiere on Friday, July 10, at 10:30 Pm Et / 7:30 Pm Pt. Or catch one of its encore showings.
Next Showing:
The Stoning of Soraya M. - Trailer
A film based on a true-life tragedy
Link | Posted 6/30/2009 by reelz
Leonard Maltin's Secret's Out | Shohreh Aghdashloo | Leonard Maltin...
- 6/30/2009
- by reelz reelz
- Reelzchannel.com
Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo
Shohreh Aghdashloo Casts No Stones
By
Alex Simon
Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo made history as the first Middle Eastern woman to be nominated for an Academy Award, when she received a Best Supporting Actress nod for her work in House of Sand and Fog (2003), opposite Ben Kingsley. Born in Tehran in 1952 to an upper middle class family of intellectuals, Shohreh spent her youth performing with various avant-garde theater companies during the country’s period of social and artistic freedom under the rule of Iran’s Shah. Most prominent among these groups was the renowned Drama Workshop of Tehran. Based upon her work with the latter group, Shohreh was cast by the two leaders of Iran’s New Wave filmmakers—Abbas Kiarostami and Ali Hatami—to play starring roles in Gozaresh and Sute-Delan, two seminal films of the period, both released in 1977.
The following year, 1978, changed everything with...
Shohreh Aghdashloo Casts No Stones
By
Alex Simon
Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo made history as the first Middle Eastern woman to be nominated for an Academy Award, when she received a Best Supporting Actress nod for her work in House of Sand and Fog (2003), opposite Ben Kingsley. Born in Tehran in 1952 to an upper middle class family of intellectuals, Shohreh spent her youth performing with various avant-garde theater companies during the country’s period of social and artistic freedom under the rule of Iran’s Shah. Most prominent among these groups was the renowned Drama Workshop of Tehran. Based upon her work with the latter group, Shohreh was cast by the two leaders of Iran’s New Wave filmmakers—Abbas Kiarostami and Ali Hatami—to play starring roles in Gozaresh and Sute-Delan, two seminal films of the period, both released in 1977.
The following year, 1978, changed everything with...
- 6/26/2009
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Click image below to view the full poster
Cinematical has just received this new, exclusive poster for Cyrus Nowrasteh's The Stoning of Soraya M . Based on a best-selling book by the late French / Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, the film dramatizes a real-life incident in Iran in which a woman was stoned to death.
Jim Cavieziel (The Passion of the Christ) plays Sahebjam, whose car breaks down in a remote Iranian village in 1986, during the time that Ayatollah Khomeini was in power. Sahebjam is approached by Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog) who tells him of a horror story that began when her niece Soraya (Mozhan Marnò) entered into an arranged marriage with a man who proved to be an abusive tyrant and ended with an innocent woman killed by a hail of stones. Director Nowrasteh co-wrote the screenplay with his wife, Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh, and the filmmakers'...
Cinematical has just received this new, exclusive poster for Cyrus Nowrasteh's The Stoning of Soraya M . Based on a best-selling book by the late French / Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, the film dramatizes a real-life incident in Iran in which a woman was stoned to death.
Jim Cavieziel (The Passion of the Christ) plays Sahebjam, whose car breaks down in a remote Iranian village in 1986, during the time that Ayatollah Khomeini was in power. Sahebjam is approached by Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog) who tells him of a horror story that began when her niece Soraya (Mozhan Marnò) entered into an arranged marriage with a man who proved to be an abusive tyrant and ended with an innocent woman killed by a hail of stones. Director Nowrasteh co-wrote the screenplay with his wife, Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh, and the filmmakers'...
- 4/2/2009
- by Peter Martin
- Cinematical
The Toronto International Film Festival has announced a whole load of films, including many world premiers, to be added as part of their lineups. Some of the more interesting looking ones are Lance Daly's Kisses about two Irish kids who run away from home and deal with the dark underside of Dublin. Another film I'm definitely interested in is Scott McGehee and David Siegel's Uncertainty which stars one of my personal favorites, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It's about a couple in love who find out she's pregnant and they flip a coin from where it apparently follows both possible storylines, but with the same disastrous consequences. Also screening will be Fabrice du Welz's Vinyan (trailer here) which is about a couple who lost their son in a Tsunami and won't give up looking for him. In the Discovery program, the stop-motion animation $9.99 which is about a man seeking the meaning to life.
- 8/14/2008
- QuietEarth.us
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