Rarely has a film’s release dovetailed with an earth-shattering event so that, by its very existence, it can contribute to radically altering world affairs. The Stoning of Soraya M. is such a film–especially since it highlights the plight of the women of Iran. It tells the tale of Soraya M, who refuses to divorce her abusive husband, a former criminal, so he falsely accuses of her of adultery which leads to her execution by stoning. In revolutionary Iran, women have few rights and the religion is manipulated by those claiming correct religious practice. Though set in 1986 Iran, Soraya’s plight and that of her one defender, her aunt, Zahra–played by Oscar nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo–is similar to that of the formerly liberated Iranian women, who, chafing under the current regime’s oppression, have been at the forefront of the protests happening now since the Presidential election was stolen by conservative incumbent Mahmoud Amadinajad
