LOS ANGELES: American satirist and television host of the critically and commercially acclaimed TV show The Daily Show would be heading to the Toronto International Film Festival to screen his movie Rosewater.
Stewart who will be making his directorial debut with the drama film depicts the story of Tehran-born Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, who was imprisoned and tortured in Iran by the hands of a man who smelled of rosewater.
The film Rosewater is based Maziar Bahari’s memoir Then They Came for Me.
Stewart, who had advocated for Bahari’s release, also invited him to his show. The comedian spoke about the man who moved him, screening the film at the Toronto International Film Festival and his experience of working in the alien conditions of Iran.
Speaking about about the character of Maziar Bahari, Stewart said, “Hopefully people will feel a real connection to Maziar. He is put in this extraordinary situation and his ability to maintain his humanity throughout is what is extraordinary about him.”
Commenting on why hechose to keep hold of the direction and screenwriting duties to himself rather than delegate them to someone he remarked that, “I felt so close to it. We approached it from the beginning, when Maziar asked me to get involved with it. The idea was to control the material as best we could.”
According to a video released on The Daly Show website Jon Stewart had received scripting assistance from well-known director and screenwriter JJ Abrams.
The task of shooting the film in Iran was a sobering challenge for the comedian turned director. What added to their problems was the fact that they were working on a very tight budget and were shooting during the holy month of Ramazan.
“I tell you what, it was kind of a punishing schedule, we didn’t have a great amount of money, it was 100 degrees, and it was Ramazan. We shot the movie backwards; we were doing night for day. It was one of those things where you were very much off your axis,” exclaimed The Daily Show host.
But as Stewart is about to screen his movie at Toronto International Film Festival, he shares many of the feelings of many of the seasoned directors: excitement, nervousness and the hope that he has done justice to the man who trusted him with his story.
Rosewater is going to be released on November 7, 2014 and will be screened at the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2014.
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