Last night I went to a screening of ‘The Stoning of Soraya M,’ the true story of a woman living in a remote village in Iran who was falsely accused of adultery and stoned to death.  I was able to sit down with director Cyrus Nowrasteh to discuss his compelling and powerful film about injustice and misogyny.

TakePart: What inspired you to tell this story?

Cyrus Nowrasteh: It’s a great story.  It needed to be told and it’s about an important subject that no one has ever addressed on screen.

TP: Did you face any challenges in adapting this tragic true story into a narrative film?

This is very sensitive material.  All of these issue that people are bringing up are ones that we felt and faced while we were trying to develop the material which is hardcore.  This is about a stoning.  We also felt that it is such an important subject that we had to tell it honestly and truthfully from the book, so the essence of the stoning in the movie is exactly as it is described in the book.  We condensed a lot of the back story and the framing story, and focused on Soraya and her aunt and their whole journey because that is really the heart of the book and you have to make those choices.

CN: Did you face any cultural opposition from the Iranian community while shooting?

It was a difficult shoot but there was not much cultural objection while making the movie.   Most of that comes out now when you see the film.  It’s a hot button topic.  I knew it was going to be a hot button topic but that may be part of what attracted me to the project.

TP: Your film is incredibly timely especially considering the current political situation in Iran.  What are your thoughts on what is going on in Iran and what do you think will happen next?

I think what’s going on in Iran is part and partial to what is going on in our movie which is that it’s about injustice and it’s about reform, and part of reform is to look at the ugliness of what’s been happening so people are aware and then take action.  A lot of what is going on in Iran is about reform and change and wanting to stop extremist behavior in government.

TP: Our readers are an active community who typically become involved after watching compelling films. What are some actions and organizations that you think people should become involved with after watching your film?

CN: There are numerous organizations: Vital Voices, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International.  On our website, you can access organizations that are dealing with all of this and get involved.

“The Stoning of Soraya M” opens in select theaters Friday June 26.