Cyrus Nowrasteh and Shohreh Aghdashloo from the Movie The Stoning of Soraya M.

GC: Were all of the actors, including children, experienced actors?

CN: There are at least a dozen speaking parts in this movie that involved people who’ve never acted before in their lives. Some of them are Arabs that do not speak Farsi. Some are people I got from Iraqi refugee camps who are Kurds or others who do not speak Farsi, because they live on the border of Iran. Some of them were Iranian citizens who I found in the host country who lived and work there in other fields and were happy to come aboard because they spoke Farsi flawlessly, I wanted them. For example: The actress who plays the villainess/the village gossip, she’s never acted before in her life. The kids never acted before. The big thug and group of friends, the husband, none of those people ever acted before. The women in the bakery, they’ve never acted before. It was something that came together and it worked and I worked with them. Shohreh would work with them. If they’re in a scene with her she has a great way of making people feel comfortable and relaxed. The more relaxed and comfortable everyone is the less they worry about it. Also, I was fortunate to have something on this film I’ve never had before, which are multiple cameras), which makes it much easier for actors to not be obsessed with focusing on one camera.

GC: Did you anticipate with the election going on in Iran, the controversy of rioting, putting the film out at this time? Do you want this film to go mainstream or arthouse?

CN: Those are marketing questions, but I can tell you this. I approached this as an important story- period. I don’t care when it comes out because this stuff is ongoing. Furthermore, because Iran has been in the news the better part of my life, it doesn’t surprise that Iran’s in the news. Its fortuitous looking at it from another perspective, but it’s not that surprising.

GC: We read that this film is not about Islam, but Islam is a big part of the film it’s the driving force of what’s going on. How do you see this film playing out in the debates, especially in Europe. Are you worried about that?