Stephen McEveety has produced some of the most compelling and profitable films in American cinema, including some of my favorites: Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ, and more recently, the indie "biggie" Bella. He's also no stranger to controversy and spectacle because of his involvement in the aforementioned Passion and an upcoming documentary on forgiveness in the aftermath of the Rwandan holocaust (As We Forgive). His latest project is The Stoning of Soraya M., a riveting, sliver-of-life film on the horrible practice of stoning and injustice in post-Islamic revolution Iran.

The Stoning of Soraya M. is based on the true-story account of a woman, Soraya (played by Mozhan Marno, from Charlie Wilson's War), who is condemned to a torturous death at the hands of her own community of family and friends after her husband spreads false accusations throughout the village, simply because he desires to marry a young 14-year-old girl.

In 1994, a French-Iranian journalist, Freidoune Sahebjam, adapted the story into a bestselling book, whose eyewitness source was Soraya's aunt, Zahra (played in the film by Shoreh Aghdashloo, seen in House of Sand and Fog and 24). Zahra secretly told Sahebjam the grisly details the day after the brutal murder happened in the village, where by seemingly divine coincidence, the journalist's car broke down, stranding him as he waited for repairs.

Not since Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ has a movie affected me so deeply with such disturbing visuals and frustrating, emotional storytelling. It is gut-wrenchingly upfront with where its story is headed, and grabs you along the way to its inevitable conclusion.

I had the opportunity to chat with Stephen McEveety about Soraya and his involvement with the film, and why such a timely story needs to be told and seen in light of the current turmoil in Iran.

Efrain Gomez: I read in another one of your interviews that when you read the script, you immediately knew that it had to be told, even though you wondered who would finance a film like this.

Stephen McEveety: The first thing I thought was, "Who would make a movie like this?" And as I stared into the bathroom mirror, I realized that it had to be me. My contacts responded favorably and we were able to get money together pretty quickly. People knew it was something they wanted to be a part of, a contemporary story.

EG: Any opposition or conflicts with major studios? People not wanting to be a part of it?

SM: Well, no, I never expected major studios to want to be a part of this, so I didn't try very hard. Soraya is clearly independent. You have to be independent to do such a tough story. And the big studios don't normally venture into this. It's outside the mold.

EG: When you see the title of the movie, and as you watch Soraya, there are two strong elements as a viewer: knowing what's going to happen, and hoping it doesn't.

SM: Yes, we had to let viewers know what they were getting into. People would be pretty upset if they didn't. We had to let viewers know, and some people just cover their eyes.

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