The Stoning of Soraya M. is an astonishingly true story – that of a fearless Iranian woman and a curious war correspondent who brought the stoning of a woman by an entire village to the world's attention. The movie stems from Freidoune Sahebjam's international best-seller of the same name, first published in 1994.

The film and nonfiction book are the true story of Zahra Khanum, who secretly came to Sahebjam to confide that her niece Soraya had just been murdered in the village square with the entire town participating in the ancient ritual of stoning. Upon investigating further, he learned that Soraya’s husband had fallen in love with another girl (a 14-year-old), conspired with the local mullah, himself a former criminal and con man, to accuse Soraya of infidelity. The evidence was largely fabricated, but that didn’t stop fellow villagers from joining in. Then, despite the lack of any real proof, and without a chance to defend herself, an all-male tribunal declared Soraya guilty and ordered her executed.

Director Cyrus Nowrasteh was extremely moved by the story, and felt it was one the whole world needed to hear. "When I read the book, I thought, if this is really happening all over the world, someone needs to shine a light on it, somehow the world has to become more aware of it," Nowrasteh recalls.

These kinds of events do occur all across the globe. Due to the secrecy and remoteness of these whippings, burnings and beheadings, accurate statistics are hard to come by. But reports suggest that there have been at least 1000 women stoned to death over the last 15 years, primarily for marital or sexual violations, in a number of countries - including Iran, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In addition, the United Nations estimates that some 5,000 women each year, including in the U.S., become victims of so-called "honor killings," in which family members kill a woman who has allegedly brought dishonor on them through such acts as dressing provocatively or engaging in illicit sex.
 
Nowrasteh believes this particular story to be very relatable because you can connect with the characters in an emotional way as husband and wife. "Some people have even compared Soraya and her husband, Ali, to O.J. and Nicole Simpson. But the difference is that in this hyped-up environment, Ali was able to use the religious legal system to have Soraya executed by her village simply because he wanted to take another wife."

The potential costs of tackling such a sensitive story were all too clear to the Nowrastehs, but after The Path to 9/11 (which Nowrasteh produced) they were ready to take it on. His wife Betsy said that since they had already received death threats due to their 911 documentary, they weren’t going to let fear dictate what they wanted to pursue.

Nowrasteh compared Zahara to the Western flick, High Noon because she is someone who stood up against the odds and tried to get people to see the injustice of their actions. "I saw Zahra as being almost like Gary Cooper in High Noon. She is the character who truly has strength in her convictions, who becomes the would-be protector of the innocent. And, even if she cannot save Soraya, she provides a real sense of hope for the future. Without Zahra, this story would have been too tragic to make into a film. But her triumph, her willingness to break the silence becomes something that inspires us all."

He said that he regrets only being able to speak with journalist Freidoune on the phone, and never getting a chance to meet him in person. But even without meeting him personally, he could tell he is a force to be reckoned with. He wanted the film to be made in Farsi using largely Iranian actors. And he wanted the film to be directed by someone of Iranian background. Nowrasteh felt strongly about the same things, and his hope is that he has done justice to Freidoune’s book just as his book has brought justice to Soraya.

–Jessica Delli Santi