Directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh
Public stoning is an ancient form of execution and this barbaric practice is still carried out in some parts of the world, particularly the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Women are disproportionately targeted for this inhumane punishment but men can be stoned for homosexuality. In 1994, war correspondent Freidoune Sahebjam published the story of one woman who was murdered in this way because she had no rights in the world of men. It was the story of an innocent woman and a husband who was able to get rid of the mother of his four children because he planned to wed a 14 year-old.
Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo) tells the story of her niece Soraya (Mozhan Marno) to journalist Freidoune Sahebjam (Jim Caviezel) after his car breaks down in her remote village in Iran and he has to wait for it to be repaired. Apart from being gripping real-life drama, the film bears witness to and breaks the silence about women’s lack of rights. The actual stoning is something the audience will not forget and the director sees this scene as ‘a kind of cathartic poetry’.
The film is not just about one woman’s story, or about barbaric practices and lack of rights. It’s about the rest of the world standing by and allowing it to continue. See the film, be outraged and remember that indifference is the biggest sin of our age. The United Nations estimates that 5,000 women a year become victims of so-called ‘honour killings’ and in 2008 a 13 year-old Somali girl was stoned to death by 50 men on front of a crowd of 1,000, after being buried up to her neck. Her crime being that she was raped. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch continue to fight to stop the practice as do www.stop-stoning.org, www.stopstoningnow.com and www.stophonourkillings.com.
Lezly Herbert
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