, image = The Stoning of Soraya M. US Poster.jpg , alt = , caption = U.S. theatrical release poster , director =

Cyrus Nowrasteh Cyrus Nowrasteh ( Persian: سیروس/کوروش نورسته ; ; born September 19, 1956) is an American-‌Iranian screenwriter, director, and producer of film and television. He has worked on numerous television series and made-for-TV movie ...

, producer = Stephen McEveety
John Shepherd

Todd Burns Todd Edward Burns (born July 6, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher from 1988 to 1993, most notably as a member of the Oakland Athletics team that won thre ...

Diane Hendricks Diane Marie Hendricks (née Smith; born 1947) is an American billionaire businesswoman and film producer from Wisconsin. She is the widow of the late businessman Ken Hendricks. Early life Hendricks was born and raised in Osseo, Wisconsin, the d ...

, writer = Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh
Cyrus Nowrasteh , based_on = , starring =

Mozhan Marnò Mozhan Marnò (born May 3, 1980) is an Iranian-American film and television actress. She is known for her roles in ''The Blacklist'' and ''House of Cards''. Early life and education Marnò was born in Los Angeles. Her parents are from Iran an ...

Shohreh Aghdashloo Shohreh Aghdashloo ( fa, شهره آغداشلو, ; née Vaziri-Tabar (); 11 May 1952) is an Iranian and American actress. Following numerous starring roles on the stage, she made her film debut in '' Chess of the Wind'' (1976). Her next two fi ...

Jim Caviezel James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (; born September 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played Jesus Christ in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS series '' Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). He ...

Parviz Sayyad Parviz Sayyad ( fa, پرویز صیاد, Parviz Sayyād; born 22 March 1939) is an Iranian-born American celebrated actor, director, translator, and screenwriter of Iranian cinema. He was one of the earliest television stars in Iran. Early life ...

Vida Ghahremani

Navid Negahban Navid Negahban ( fa, نوید نگهبان; born June 2, 1968) is an Iranian-American actor. He has appeared on '' 24'', ''Homeland'', '' Mistresses'' and as Amahl Farouk / Shadow King in the second and third seasons of FX's ''Legion''. He has al ...

, music =

John Debney John Cardon Debney (born August 18, 1956) is an American composer and conductor of film, television, and video game scores. His work encompasses a variety of mediums and genres including comedy, horror, thriller, and action-adventure. He is a l ...

, cinematography = Joel Ransom , editing = David Handman
Geoffrey Rowland , studio =

Mpower Pictures Mpower Pictures is the production company of David Segel, Stephen McEveety, John Shepherd, and Todd Burns. Mpower Pictures was launched with '' Bella'' (2006), winner of the Toronto Film Festival People's Choice Award, produced in association ...

, distributor =

Roadside Attractions Roadside Attractions is an American production company and film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, founded on July 27, 2000, by Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff, specializing largely in independent films. Lionsgate Lions Gate ...

, released = , runtime = 116 minutes , country = United States , language = Persian
English , budget = , gross = $1.1 million ''The Stoning of Soraya M.'' ( fa, .سنگسار ثريا م, Sangsār-e Sorayā M.) is a 2009 Persian-language American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

adapted from French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam's

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

book ''La Femme Lapidée''. The film is directed by

, and stars

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominee

(as Zahra),

(as Freidoune Sahebjam, the foreign journalist), and

(as

Soraya Manutchehri , image = The Stoning of Soraya M. US Poster.jpg , alt = , caption = U.S. theatrical release poster , director = Cyrus Nowrasteh , producer = Stephen McEveety John Shepherd Todd BurnsDiane Hendricks , ...

, the title character). ''The Stoning of Soraya M.'' had its

world premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its firs ...

at the

2008 Toronto International Film Festival 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

, where it won the Director's Choice Award. It was also the second runner-up for the Cadillac People's Choice Award. The book has been banned in Iran.

Background

French-Iranian journalist and war correspondent Freidoune Sahebjam was traveling through Iran, when he came upon Soraya Manutchehri's village, where he learned from her aunt about Soraya and her cruel fate. He would make Manutchehri's death the subject of his 1990 book ''La Femme Lapidée,'' which was translated into English in 1994''.'' ''The Stoning of Soraya M.'' is an adaption of the book. Credibility of Sahebjam's story and the film plot itself is disputed by many Iranian critics, expert Elise Auerbach from Amnesty International, and film critics like Richard Nilsen from ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'' and

Wesley Morris Wesley Morris (born 1975) is an American film critic and podcast host. He is currently critic-at-large for ''The New York Times'', as well as co-host, with Jenna Wortham, of the ''New York Times'' podcast '' Still Processing.'' Previously, Mor ...

from ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''. Soraya Manutchehri ( fa, ثریا منوچهری, Soraya Manuchehri; the "t" in the transcription by Sahebjam followed French spelling rules; 1951 – 15 August 1986) was a 35-year-old woman who was stoned to death in the small village of

Kuhpayeh Kuhpayeh ( fa, كوهپايه, also Romanized as Kūhpāyeh, Kūhpāye and Koohpayeh; also known as Kūhpā and Qohpayeh) is a city and capital of Kuhpayeh District, in Isfahan County, Isfahan Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population wa ...

, Iran, after being accused of

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

. Unnamed witnesses have claimed that Manutchehri's husband, Ghorban-Ali, a prison guard with a petty criminal past, was eager to get rid of her in order to marry a 14-year-old girl. Not wanting to support two families, nor return Soraya's dowry, he spread false rumours of her alleged adultery after she began cooking for a local widower. Abetted by

venal Venality is a vice associated with being bribeable or willing to sell one's services or power, especially when people are intended to act in a decent way instead. In its most recognizable form, venality causes people to lie and steal for their own ...

and corrupt village authorities, who turned her father against her, he accused his wife of

. She was convicted, buried up to her waist, and stoned to death. Her death has been described as a slow, painful event with "a carnival atmosphere led by village elders". After her death, the body was allegedly left outside so that animals could "ravage" it.

Plot

Stranded in the remote

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian village of

by car trouble, a journalist is approached by Zahra, a woman with a harrowing tale to tell about her niece, Soraya, and the bloody circumstances of Soraya's death by

stoning Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times. The Torah and Ta ...

the previous day. The two sit down as Zahra recounts the story to Freidoune, who records the conversation. The journalist must escape with his life to tell the story to the rest of the world. Ali is

Soraya Soraya ( fa, ثریا) is a feminine Persian name. It is derived from the Arabic name for the Pleiades star cluster, ''Thurayya'' ( ar, ثريّة). The name is also popular in Europe due to its association with Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, th ...

's abusive husband who tries to get the village's mullah to convince Soraya to grant him a divorce so that he can marry a 14-year-old girl. Ali is able to convince the mullah by making threats to tell the village about his past as a convict. Ali's marriage to the teenager is conditional upon Ali's ability to save the girl's father, a doctor who has been sentenced to death for an unspecified crime. Soraya has two sons whom Ali wants. After a woman dies, Ali asks Zahra to persuade Soraya to care for the woman's now-widowed husband. Soraya starts working for the widower, and Ali uses this situation to spread lies that Soraya is being unfaithful to him so that she will be stoned and he can remarry. Ali knows if Soraya were dead, he would not have to pay

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

either. Ali and the mullah start a rumor about her

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and ri ...

so they can charge her with

. They need one more witness to her "infidelity" to be able to formally charge her. They manipulate and threaten the widower into backing up their story. Ali then drags Soraya through the streets, beating her and publicly declaring that she has been unfaithful. Zahra intervenes, and takes her niece, Ali, and the mayor to talk privately. They bring the widower to the home, and, after he lies as instructed, a trial is pursued. Only men, including Soraya's father, are allowed while Soraya is confined in Zahra's house. She is quickly convicted. Zahra tries to flee with her and after realizing she cannot, pleads with the mayor for her life, even offering to switch places with Soraya. The conviction is upheld. Soraya's father is given the first stone to throw, but he misses her repeatedly. A woman in the crowd pleads to the mayor that the stones missing are a sign that Soraya is innocent, but none of the men listen. Ali takes up stones and throws them himself. Her two sons are also forced to throw stones. The widower is given stones as well but instead walks away in tears. The crowd finally joins in and Soraya is stoned to death. In the present, the widower informs the journalist that his car is fixed. The mullah and the widower are informed by Ali that his marriage to the teenage girl is off, implying that he could not spare her father from execution. Angry at Ali and the mullah, the widower admits that he lied. As the journalist attempts to leave, the mullah orders a Revolutionary Guard to stop him at gunpoint. They seize his tape recorder and destroy the tapes. Zahra then appears with the true tape in her hand. Men attempt to run after the car as the journalist drives away and escapes. Zahra triumphantly declares that now the whole world will know of the injustice that has happened.

Cast

as Zahra *

as Freidoune Sahebjam *

as Hashem * Vida Ghahremani as Mrs. Massoud *

as Ali * Vachik Mangassarian as Morteza Ramazani, Soraya's father * Bita Sheibani as Leila * Noor Taher as Kataneh * David Diaan as Ebrahim, the mayor * Ali Pourtash as the mullah * Laila Qutub as Mehri, the 14-year-old girl

Release

Box office and financing

The film's domestic gross was $636,246. It grossed $1,090,260 worldwide. Film received financing led by

, the company started by President John Shepherd, Stephen McEveety, and

. Additional financing came from Blackwater founder

Erik Prince Erik Dean Prince (born June 6, 1969) is an American businessman, former United States Navy SEALs, U.S. Navy SEAL Officer (armed forces), officer, and the founder of the private military company Blackwater USA, Blackwater. He served as Blackwat ...

Critical reception

''The Stoning of Soraya M.'' received generally mixed reviews. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives it a 59% approval rating, with an average score of 6 out of 10, based on 86 collected reviews. Its consensus states: "''The Stoning of Soraya M.'' nearly transcends its deficiencies through the sheer strength of its subject material, but ultimately drowns out its message with an inappropriately heavy-handed approach." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film an average score of 50 based on 20 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoning Of Soraya M. 2008 films 2008 drama films American drama films Drama films based on actual events 2000s Persian-language films Films about capital punishment Adultery in films Anti-Iranian sentiments Capital punishment in Iran Films scored by John Debney Films based on non-fiction books Films set in Iran Films set in the 1980s Iranian-American films Films directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh Roadside Attractions films Women's rights in Iran 2000s English-language films 2008 multilingual films American multilingual films 2000s American films