The first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi
has inspired millions around the globe through her work as a human
rights lawyer defending women and children against a brutal regime in
Iran. Now the film, "Until We Are Free", tells her story of courage and
defiance in the face of a government out to destroy her, her family,
and her mission: to bring justice to the people and the country she
loves.
Best known in this country as the lawyer working tirelessly on behalf
of Canadian photojournalist, Zara Kazemi- raped, tortured and
murdered in Iran- the film, "Until We Are Free", tells of the struggle
of one woman against the system. It is a gripping story. For years
the Islamic Republic tried to intimidate Ebadi, but after Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad rose to power in 2005, the censorship and persecution
intensified. The government wiretapped Ebadi's phones, bugged her
law firm, sent spies to follow her, harassed her colleagues, detained her
daughter, and arrested her sister on trumped-up charges. It shut down
her lectures, fired up mobs to attack her home, seized her offices,
and nailed a death threat to her front door. Despite finding herself
living under circumstances reminiscent of a spy novel, nothing could
keep Ebadi from speaking out and standing up for human dignity. The
Iranian government would end up taking everything from Shirin Ebadi-
her marriage, her home, her legal career, even her Nobel Prize- but
the one thing it could never steal was her spirit to fight for justice
and a better future. This is the amazing, at times harrowing, simply
astonishing story of a woman who would never give up, no matter the
risks.
