Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari is detained by Iranian forces who brutally interrogate him under suspicion that he is a spy.Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari is detained by Iranian forces who brutally interrogate him under suspicion that he is a spy.Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari is detained by Iranian forces who brutally interrogate him under suspicion that he is a spy.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination
- Prison Barber
- (as Alex Claus)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMaziar Bahari was imprisoned, interrogated, and beaten in Iran for 118 days in 2009 on charges that he was attempting to stage the overthrow of the Iranian government. One of the pieces of "evidence" that Bahari's Iranian captors held against him as proof of his guilt was footage from a segment on The Daily Show (1996) in which he was interviewed by Jason Jones pretending to be a spy. During the sketch, Bahari called Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an "idiot". After he was released, Bahari was interviewed on "The Daily Show" by Jon Stewart, who discussed the role that the show had (inadvertently) played in his imprisonment. Stewart and Bahari became friendly, and Stewart decided to adapt Bahari's 2011 book "Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival" (co-written with Aimee Molloy) into a screenplay.
- GoofsThe "You're not alone" writing Maziar leaves on the wall near the end of the movie, changes when the next prisoner enters the cell.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Maziar Bahari: [narrating] Finally, I was free. But my joy is tempered by those I left behind. People who did not have the advantage of international attention. Country men and women whose only crime against the state is not believing in its perfection. And the acolytes, those without imagination, those who even in my confinement were more alone and afraid than I. Because in their hearts, they know they cannot win.
He travelled to Iran to cover the elections of 2009; the results were wildly contested by the public and international media – seeing them as rigged. Bahari covered the subsequent rioting and the lethal clamp down by the Iranian forces and got the news out; this is a country where the State controls all aspects of life including access to satellite programmes, books and news. For that he was arrested and tortured; this is his story.
This film was made by Jon Stewart who interviewed Bahari for a spoof he did on his show. That footage was used to try to prove Bahari was a spy for the corrupt West. Gael Garcia Bernal stars as Bahari and as always puts in a superb performance – he is one of my favourite actors so I am a bit biased. This is a film that takes its time but it manages to still be hard hitting enough to have the impact I feel it was aiming for. It uses genuine footage as well to recreate the times and it a better watch for it. One for fans of World cinema that is easy to recommend.
- t-dooley-69-386916
- Oct 17, 2015
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $3,128,941
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,154,303
- Nov 16, 2014
- Gross worldwide
- $3,171,593
- Runtime1 hour 43 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1