8/3/2010: CONTROVERSIAL STONING OF SORAYA M TO GET AUSSIE RELEASE

Deemed too controversial to release in some parts of the world, including the UK, The Stoning Of Soraya M, will be released in Australia from May 27, 2010 by independent art-house distributor Accent Films. The contentious and compelling tale examines the horrific power of mob rule and death by stoning; a practice that ‘officially’ doesn’t exist. It was filmed in a remote hamlet in an undisclosed Arabian country in the Middle East by Cyrus Nowrasteh an American-born writer/director of Iranian heritage.

Based on the 1994 book of the same name by the late French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, which was banned in Iran, The Stoning Of Soraya M introduces us to Zahra, a courageous Iranian woman with a terrible secret. When a journalist is temporarily stranded in her village, Zahra risks her life to relate the shocking events that led to the ‘legalized’ 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. The penalty for such a crime is death by stoning - a barbaric practice condoned by Sharia law, that still prevails in some parts of the world.

Starring Academy Award nominated actress Shohreh Aghdashloo (House Of Sand And Fog) and James Caviezel (The Passion Of The Christ), the film was runner-up to Slumdog Millionaire as Audience Favourite at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival; it won the Audience Award at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival, Best Actress for Shohreh Aghdashloo at the 2009 Satellite Awards and received the Justice Award for Cinema for Peace at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival.