The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008)

Director:

Cyrus Nowrasteh

Writers (WGA):

Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh (screenplay) &
Cyrus Nowrasteh (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

9 October 2009 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

When a deadly conspiracy became a shameful cover-up One witness refused to be silent.

Plot:

A drama set in 1986 Iran and centered on a man, Sahebjam, whose car breaks down in a remote village and enters into a conversation with Zahra...

Plot Keywords:

Village | Iran | Car | Cowardice | Persian

Awards:

5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Shohreh Aghdashloo	...	Zahra
Mozhan Marnò	...	Soraya M.
Jim Caviezel	...	Freidoune Sahebjam
Navid Negahban	...	Ali
Ali Pourtash	...	Mullah
David Diaan	...	Ebrahim
Parviz Sayyad	...	Hashem
Vida Ghahremani	...	Mrs. Massoud
Vachik Mangassarian	...	Morteza Ramazani - Soraya's Father
Bita Sheibani	...	Leila
Noor Al Taher	...	Kataneh
Haya Al Taher	...	Malaka
Khalid Khan	...	Warden
Sheede Dana	...	Second Woman
Fay Yan	...	Bita
Salti Hasan	...	Mrs. Hashem
Laila Qutub	...	Mehri
Talal Nabil Morcos	...	Kamran
Abdullah Shaheen	...	Mohsen
Shukreyeh Thijeel	...	Mourning Woman
Fadela Rashem	...	Mourning Woman
Sabiha Faleh	...	Mourning Woman
Zoro Shaswar	...	Ali's Friend
Jalal Zadhaley	...	Ali's Friend
Aras Raffi	...	Ali's Friend
Yousef Shweihat	...	Ringmaster
Rami Hamati	...	Circus Boy
Fadi Joseph Hamati	...	Circus Boy
Yasha Keyt	...	Servant Girl
Prasanna Puwanarajah	...	Revolutionary Guard
Yahya Hussein	...	Mohammed
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Zeid Al-Yasoufy	...	Circus Drummer
Sahar Bibiyan	...	(voice)
Maggie Parto	...	Vo (uncredited)

Directed by
Cyrus Nowrasteh

Writing credits (WGA)
Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh		(screenplay) &
Cyrus Nowrasteh		(screenplay)
Freidoune Sahebjam		(book)

Produced by
Todd Burns	....	co-producer
Diane Hendricks	....	executive producer
Jason Jones	....	associate producer
Stephen A. Marinaccio II	....	line producer
Stephen McEveety	....	producer
Thomas J. Papa	....	executive producer
Tracy K. Price	....	executive producer
David Segel	....	executive producer
John Shepherd	....	producer

Original Music by
John Debney

Cinematography by
Joel Ransom

Film Editing by
David Handman
Geoffrey Rowland

Casting by
Deborah Aquila
Jennifer L. Smith
Tricia Wood

Production Design by
Judy Rhee

Art Direction by
Bradley Schmidt

Set Decoration by
Rana Abboot

Costume Design by
Jane Anderson

Makeup Department
Jason Hamer	....	makeup effects supervisor
Aimee Macabeo	....	special makeup effects: hair technician
Mike Mekash	....	special makeup effects artist
Christien Tinsley	....	designer and creator: special make-up effects
Hiroshi Yada	....	special makeup effects crew: Tinsley Transfers Inc.

Production Management
Stephen A. Marinaccio II	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Matthew J. Clark	....	first assistant director
Tamir Naber	....	second second assistant director
Trevor Puckle	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Rime Al-Jabr	....	scenic artist
Amin Charif El Masri	....	set dresser
Sana Hashem	....	on-set scenic
Fida Ibrahim	....	on-set scenic
Sana'a Jaber	....	assistant property master
Samy Keilani	....	construction coordinator
Karim Kheir	....	assistant property master
Emad Al Muhtaseb	....	set dresser
Rima Najdi	....	set dresser
Zeina Soufan	....	scenic
Mona Sultan	....	art department coordinator/graphic designer
Samir Zaidan	....	scenic artist
Nasser Zoubi	....	property master

Sound Department
David Barnaby	....	supervising sound designer
Dennis Baxter	....	sound
Ethan Beigel	....	adr mixer
Ethan Beigel	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ethan Beigel	....	supervising sound editor
Evan Beigel	....	sound editor
Evan Beigel	....	sound effects editor
Joel Catalan	....	sound editorial assistant
Mark Hensley	....	sound re-recording mixer
Matt Hovland	....	walla mixer
Melissa Kennelly	....	foley artist
Shawn Kennelly	....	foley mixer
Baha Othman	....	boom operator
Sarah Payan	....	dialogue editor
Durand Trench	....	foley editor

Special Effects by
Diane Woodhouse	....	special effects shop coordinator

Visual Effects by
Christopher C. Brown	....	data manager
Dave Dean	....	digital compositor
Christopher Dusendschon	....	digital imaging supervisor: iO FILM
Martin Hesselink	....	visual effects artist
Michael Kowalski	....	visual effects supervisor: Soho VFX
Erwin Lievre	....	digital compositor
Derick Loo	....	visual effects artist: Soho VFX
Allan Magled	....	visual effects supervisor: Soho VFX
Ciaran O'Connor	....	digital compositor: Soho VFX
Mihaela Orzea	....	lead compositor: Soho VFX
David Rose	....	digital compositor: Soho VFX
Frankie Stellato	....	animator: SohoVFX
Sarah Swick	....	production coordinator: Soho VFX
David Van Woert	....	titles

Stunts
Ian Eyre	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Sasha Proctor	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Peter Wilke	....	camera operator: "a" camera

Animation Department
Lee McNair	....	senior animator

Casting Department
Lara Atalla	....	casting: Jordan
Patty Majorczak-Connolly	....	adr voice casting
George Naouri	....	casting assistant
Mark Sussman	....	adr voice casting
Lisa Zagoria	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kathryn L. Bucher	....	costumer
Phaedra Dahdaleh	....	wardrobe textile artist
Karma Hijjawi	....	costume buyer
Abd Elfattah Rayyan	....	costume assistant
Sierra Robinson	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Brian Beard	....	digital intermediate editor
Carmen Del Toro	....	digital conform assistant
Stephen A. Marinaccio II	....	post production supervisor
Michael Mintz	....	digital film colorist
Steve Sahagun	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Sussan Deyhim	....	musician
Sussan Deyhim	....	vocalist
Kevin Kaska	....	orchestrator
Melanie Mullens Hoyson	....	score production supervisor
Steve Salani	....	music scoring engineer
Michael Stern	....	music recording engineer

Other crew
Nathaniel Albro	....	intern
Heather Askew	....	script supervisor
Harry S. Boileau	....	data capture assistant
Christopher C. Brown	....	data manager
Jeff Brue	....	technical advisor
Otto Burnham	....	data manager
Carolyn Burns	....	production executive
Todd Burns	....	production attorney
Fahim Fazli	....	adr voice
Laura Fearon	....	production accountant
Jennifer Haire	....	production coordinator
Andrew Hyatt	....	creative executive
Soraya Kelley	....	voice
Roman Kopelevich	....	sales agent
Jordan Melograna	....	production assistant
Josh Rader	....	development executive
Joanna Repsold	....	assistant to producer
Jessica Shannon	....	production accountant
Steven E. Simon	....	assistant to the upm
Wayne Tidwell	....	data capture engineer

Thanks
Fred Foote	....	thanks
Paul Kampf	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Roadside Attractions (presents)
• Mpower Distribution (in association with)
• Mpower Pictures
• Prime Meridian Pctures (produced in co-operation with)
• Fallen Films

Distributors

• Scanbox Entertainment (2009) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Accent Film Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• Emerald (2011) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2009) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• Irfan Film (2009) (Turkey) (all media)
• Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Mongrel Media (2010) (Canada) (DVD)
• Nu Metro Productions (2009) (South Africa) (all media)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2010) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Roadside Attractions (2009) (USA) (all media)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2009) (Denmark) (all media)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2009) (Finland) (all media)
• Scanbox Norge (2009) (Norway) (all media)

Special Effects

• Soho VFX
• Tinsley Studio (special make-up effects)

Other Companies

• Eisner & Frank  legal counsel
• Identity Studios  titles
• NovaStar Digital  sound post-production
• Runway  post-production services

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for a disturbing sequence of cruel and brutal violence, and brief strong language

Runtime:

USA:114 min | Argentina:114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Persian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Norway:15 | Australia:MA | Singapore:M18 | UK:18 | Argentina:18 | South Korea:18

Company:

Roadside Attractions

Trivia:

At the location where the jail scene was to be shot a prison riot broke out the day before causing a lockdown and a "prison" had to be constructed.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Soraya gives her jewelry to her daughters, both girls cup their hands to receive both items, not knowing which sister is being given which piece. This happens both times, even when the younger daughter has received her necklace already.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Title Card:Don't act like the hypocrite, who thinks he can conceal his wiles while loudly quoting the Koran. - Hafez, 14th Century Iranian Poet

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Public Enemies/Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs/The Stoning of Soraya M (#1.18)" (2009)

Speechless

This film is breathtaking beyond words. It honestly left me speechless. I struggle even to put this review into words. It show's the brutal reality of abuse and discrimination in a powerful way. The tears in the eyes of Soraya's children after she is publicly executed. The anger in the eyes and hearts of the men as they kill her. A lot could be said of the stunning performances, the brilliant writing etc. But this movie has something that goes far beyond entertainment and artistic value. It gives a glimmer of hope to those suffering this kind of abuse through out the world. It takes a megaphone to a sleeping culture and says "You shall not be forgotten".