Forbidden Lie$ (2007)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Anna Broinowski

Writer:

Anna Broinowski (writer)

Release Date:

3 April 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Drama

Tagline:

Con or artist? you decide

Plot:

A dramatized documentary investigating accusations that "Forbidden Love" author Norma Khouri made up her biographical tale of a Muslim friend who was killed for dating a Christian. |

Plot Keywords:

Author | Forbidden Love | Hoax | Publisher | Politics

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Norma Khouri	...	Herself - The Artist
Malcolm Knox	...	Himself - The Press
Rana Husseini	...	Herself - The Press
Caroline Overington	...	Herself - The Press
Jon Yates	...	Himself - The Press
Ed Torian	...	Himself - The Law
Frank Bochte	...	Himself - The Law
Dawn Lawkowski	...	Herself - The Law
Rachel Richardson	...	Herself - The Fan
Kara Elliot	...	Herself - The Fan
Maree Elliot	...	Herself - The Fan
John Toliopoulos	...	Himself - The Clan
Majid Bagain	...	Himself - The Clan
Asma Bagain	...	Herself - The Clan
Cousin Faris	...	Himself - The Clan

Also Known As:

Forbidden Lies (International: English title) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

USA:104 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M

Company:

Adelaide Film Festival

A portrait of pathology

A best-selling book about honour killings in Jordan is withdrawn by its publishers after allegations surface that the story has been fabricated; associated with other allegations of its author's past as a con-woman. A few years later, she resurfaces, conceding that she took a certain amount of dramatic licence but willing to cooperate with a film-maker to prove the substance of her allegations. What follows is a fascinating insight into a pathological personality, someone who's behaviour on one had makes no sense unless what she is saying is true, yet who is seemingly incapable of saying anything that is not astonishingly dramatic but unproven at best and most often, verifiably false. It's almost impossible to imagine what Ms. Khouri hoped to gain by appearing in this film: vindication? celebrity? - all she does achieve is to project a certain image of herself as a deeply damaged individual, and even that cannot be taken at face value. Director Anna Broinowski appears increasingly on camera as her film progresses, and increasingly exasperated to boot; but she is finally rewarded with a remarkable, although scary and disturbing, tale to tell - and one of those films that reminds us what a thoroughly weird world it is we live in.