A BBC journalist risked not seeing his wife and unborn child after he submitted a footage of riot in Iran.
- August 29, 2014
AceShowbiz -
Jon Stewart's directorial debut "Rosewater" unleashes its first trailer and poster ahead of its November 7 limited release. The film will premiere at the Telluride Film Festival this weekend before being screened at the Toronto Film Festival on September 8.
Written by Stewart, "Rosewater" is based on "Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival" by BBC journalist Maziar Bahari. It follows the Tehran-born Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal), a 42-year-old broadcast journalist with Canadian citizenship living in London. In June 2009, Bahari returned to Iran to interview Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who was the prime challenger to controversial incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
As Mousavi's supporters rose up to protest Ahmadinejad's victory declaration hours before the polls closed on election day, Bahari endured great personal risk by submitting camera footage of the unfolding street riots to the BBC. Bahari was soon arrested by Revolutionary Guard police, led by a man identifying himself only as "Rosewater", who proceeded to torture and interrogate the journalist over the next 118 days.
"It may not be what people expect from me; it's not a comedy," Stewart told Entertainment Weekly in an earlier interview. "I hope people view it for what it is - a love letter to expression and the importance of it. It's everything."
The trailer opens with Bahari telling his wife that he would be back within 7 days. And then he made the crucial decision and got snatched from his hotel room. It looks like the film will use real-life news footage for the film which was shot in Jordan.
