Last year, I had the privilege of seeing The Stoning of Soraya M, a harrowing, depressing, and remarkable depiction of a horrific crime in Iran and the sequence of events that led up to it. I reviewed the film at the time, but it never got into the theaters. It wasn’t difficult to understand why; the film is mostly told in subtitles, more or less bookended in English, and handles a very disturbing true story about an atrocity carried out by an entire village. Over the last eight months, I have checked back on occasion at the film’s website and on Amazon to see if the producers had given up and gone to a DVD release instead.

Fortunately, they persevered. I discovered in a review at Politics Daily by Carl Cannon, who was as impressed as I was about the film, that the film will go into theatrical release in six weeks, on June 26th. The film deserves as wide a release as possible; I wrote last year that it would have been the best film of 2008, had it been released, and it should compete for that title in 2009. If you have an opportunity to see this film, drop everything and go to the theater … and bring a handkerchief.  Read my review to find out why this story had to be told to the widest possible audience.

The second piece of good news is more local.  Brothers at War has finally come to the Twin Cities, although unfortunately just as I’m about to leave on vacation.  I may try to get out tonight or tomorrow to see this highly-recommended documentary about why Americans volunteered to serve in Iraq, as told through the eyes of their brother.  If you live in the area, be sure to get out to Moundsview’s Carmike Theater and support this film.