Q&A: Cyrus Nowrasteh

June 22, 2009 With election turmoil rattling Iran, Cyrus Nowrasteh's "The Stoning of Soraya M." couldn't be more timely. Already banned in that country, the movie is based on the best-selling book by Paris-based journalist Freidoune Sahabjam and is the true account of the stoning to death of a woman by Iranian villagers in 1986 after she was accused of infidelity (her "infidelity" amounted to improperly speaking with a man who was not her husband and napping in his bed when he was not home; she was his maid and thus had access to his house). Opening Friday in 10 major markets from Roadside Attractions and mPower Pictures, the film was a labor of love for Nowrasteh, who spent part of his childhood in Iran.

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