The Trailer For Jon Stewart’s Directorial Debut, ‘Rosewater’, Just Dropped
Jon Stewart, Srs Director.
It was five years ago that Maziar Bahari was arrested and held in an Iranian prison for 118 days. During this time, the Iranian-Canadian journalist’s captors used a segment from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart — in which Bahari had appeared only a few days before his capture — as proof of his alleged “media espionage”.
This morning the first trailer for Stewart’s directorial debut, Rosewater, was released – it tells the story of Bahari’s interrogation and imprisonment while he was on assignment covering the 2009 Iranian elections.
Stewart wrote the screenplay – which was adapted from Bahari’s 2011 memoir, ‘Then They Came For Me’ – and directed the film during a 12-week break from his hosting duties, as John Oliver took over (and made such an impression that he soon landed his very own show, Last Week Tonight). The New York Times questioned whether this will be Stewart’s move into “serious film director”, and the trailer gives us a small glimpse into what that might look like.
The title of the film refers to Bahari’s recollection of his interrogators, who smelled of rosewater. When he appeared on The Daily Show after being released from prison, he joked with Stewart, saying he was imprisoned “because of you”.
So far Rosewater has received mixed reviews from press screenings, with The Hollywood Reporter noting: “If this very same film had been made by an unknown director, it would pass in the night with only scant notice”.
There’s also the issue of casting Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal to play an Iranian. Stewart said: “The one thing that I was really having trouble finding was someone who was able to have that distance, who, within the horror of what was happening to them, maintained a certain light. And when Gael came in to read, it was kind of immediate.”
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Rosewater will be screened at the Telluride Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival before opening in the U.S on November 7.