Stars Support Indie Filmmaking And Social Causes At Los Angeles Film Festival

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:30:00 -0000

There was no shortage of stars out to support independent film at this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival in Westwood Village.

Having the festival in the area despite these trying economic times helps restaurants and other businesses reap the benefits. The film festival began on June 18 with the world premiere of The Paper Man starring Jeff Daniels and Ryan Reynolds and ended June 28th. The world premieres of Transformers and Public Enemies also took place at the festival. Fans lined the streets to see Megan Fox, Michael Bay, Christian Bale and Johnny Depp.

Despite the bigger budget film debuts, the heartbeat of the Los Angeles Film Festival is independent movies. Film Independent is a non-profit arts organization. Their mission is to champion the cause of independent film and support a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation, and uniqueness of vision.

This is evidenced in films such as the Stoning of Soraya. The Iranian film screened to a packed house given the political climate of Iran. Khaled Hosseini, writer of the academy award nominated and best selling book The Kite Runner was emcee for The Stoning of Soraya screening. Hosseini has no direct association with film but after seeing the story, he wanted to support a film which lends a voice to oppressed and voiceless women in Iran and around the world.

Oscar nominated Melissa Leo joined the Q & A for Dear Lemon Lima, a film which centers a teenage girl of Caucasian and Yupik Indian heritage. This film incorporates sharing traditions of Eskimo culture. Leo is a supporting actress in the film. There were many other celebrities, including Erin Brokovitch, on hand to discuss social awareness in film or to support socially conscience film.

Best Picks at Los Angeles Film Festival

Foreign Language: The Stoning of Soraya
Given the climate of the times and the poignant story, it would not be a surprise to see this film get an Oscar nod for best foreign language film. Based on a best selling book and true story, the film is set in Iran, but had to be filmed in other Middle East locations. The language spoken is Farsi. The story sheds light on the story behind the unjust stoning of Muslim woman. The broader platform is the lack of women’s rights that still occurs. This film left barely a dry eye in the house and stomach which didn’t feel punched by the end. Jim Caveziel and Shohreh Aghdashloo lend their star power to the film. See more details at www.thestoning.com.

Narrative: Dear Lemon Lima
Oscar Nominee Melissa Leo joins a cast of virtual unknowns in a refreshing and very original teenage coming of age film. The story which takes place in Alaska centers on a teenage girl wrestling with her mixed ethnic background of Caucasian and Yupik heritage. She physically looks White and identifies White culture primarily because her non-white parent was never really apart of her life. This film takes an unconventional route to showcasing elements of Eskimo and Native American culture. There is so much more to Dear Lemon Lima including young love, acceptance and coming into your own. It was hidden jewels at the fest and a film full of surprises, wacky as Napoleon Dynamite.

Documentary: Bananas
Bananas is one of the most talked about and controversial films at the fest this year as it chronicles the global politics of the Standard Fruit Company (now Dole) in regards to the first Nicaraguan sterility case tried in US courts. In a statement provided by the film festival, it states “The festival believes that questions of great public interest are presented by this film and are exactly what we ought to be talking and thinking about in a responsible society. The film is not being presented for the truth of the matters asserted. It is to stimulate discussion…” This film was taken out of the film festival as competitive.

New Film Addresses Iran's Human Rights Violations

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Written by Melissa Charbonneau

On the heels of Iran’s controversial presidential election, the Iranian-born star and the Iranian-American director of the docu-drama “The Stoning of Soraya M.” will highlight human rights issues in Iran at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on June 17.

In a panel discussion, Academy Award nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (“House of Sand and Fog,” “24”) and director Cyrus Nowrasteh (“The Path to 9/11”) will discuss the brutal practice of execution by stoning, injustices against women, international human rights violations, and their film “The Stoning of Soraya M.”

Adapted from French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam’s 1994 book “The Stoning of Soraya M.,” (Amazon) the film tells the true story of an incident that took place Iran in the 1980’s after the Islamic Revolution – the stoning execution of a young woman named Soraya, convicted on false charges of adultery. Journalist Sahebjam, played by Jim Caviezel (“Déjà vu,” “The Passion of the Christ,” “The Thin Red Line”) relays the tale told by Soraya’s aunt, played by Aghdashloo. The film’s graphic stoning scene has been called powerful, haunting, and difficult to watch, but one Aghdashloo says she had to do.

“I’ve been waiting to do this for 20 years,” says Aghdashloo, who fled her native Iran in the 1970’s, and filmed the feature not in her homeland but on location in the Middle East. “This one goes beyond an ordinary film for me. Despite all the negative voices around me when I started it, I did it. Some worried. Members of the family opposed it. My mother asked why I did this.”

Despite a nationwide tour to promote the film and raise awareness about global violations of women’s rights, the movie’s defenders dismiss suggestions that the film’s violent scenes linked to Islamic fundamentalism could unfairly spark new waves of anti-Muslim sentiment. A familiar charge for “Stoning” producer Steve McEveety (MPower Pictures), who faced similar criticism for the graphic scenes in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”

Veteran film promoter Dennis Rice says the film is not anti-Muslim or anti-Iran, but instead a metaphor for a lot of issues that are relevant today and are occurring in many parts of the world. “An actual stoning is far more barbaric and difficult to watch,” says Rice. He says there was a fine line between watering down the stoning scene while still maintaining its visceral impact. “As the director told me, it is an artistic representation. It’s hard to portray something as barbaric as this so people will have the right response. To be any more watered down than it already is would be a gross disservice to any victim who’s endured this treatment.”

For the film’s star, speaking out on injustice against women is one reason she’s been unable to travel to her homeland for the last 30 years, but it’s an issue close to her heart. “I’ve never kept quiet and never gone back,” she says. “I’ve always been in danger. I felt like that many years now. It doesn’t matter. My life is not as important as the girls who’s been, who are at this very moment… on death row waiting to be stoned.”

Aghdashloo has also appeared in the BBC/HBO miniseries “House of Sadaam,” The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2," "The Lake House, “American Dreamz,” “X-Men: The Last Stand,” "The Nativity Story, and “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.” The film will be released nationwide in limited theaters on June 26. More information about the film can be found here.

Look To The Stars News: Shohreh Aghdashloo

Stars Support Indie Filmmaking And Social Causes At Los Angeles Film Festival

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