Jon Stewart Film ‘Rosewater’ in Select Theaters Nov. 14

Mike Calendrillo

“Rosewater” is the true story of London-based Journalist Maziar Bahari, whose controversial comments on Iran’s 2009 presidential elections during an interview on “The Daily Show” led to him being detained in Iran for 100 days. Written and directed by Jon Stewart and based Bahari and Aimee Molloy’s best-selling memoir “They Came for Me,” the biopic stars Gael Garcia Bernal and recounts Bahari’s four-month incarceration in Tehran’s Evin Prison where he was blindfolded and brutally tortured and interrogated by a man he never saw. The film is named for his captor’s only distinguishing trait: the smell of rosewater.

Before Bahari’s imprisonment, Iranian authorities presented his “Daily Show” interview as evidence that he was planning with an American spy to overthrow the Iranian government. This alleged coup was to take place when Bahari returned to Iran during the elections to interview Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the political challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As Ahmadinejad declared his victory hours before the polls closed, Mousavi supporters protested and Bahari sent a firsthand account of the now infamous street riots to the BBC. When Bahari was incarcerated, his pregnant fiancé lead an international campaign back in Canada to have him freed, demanding media outlets to keep the story alive. After 100 days, Iranian authorities finally freed Bahari, but only after he promised to act as a spy for their government. And, due to leaked content from “Rosewater,” Iran’s State TV has accused Stewart of being funded by Zionists and working for the CIA.

Set for release on November 14, “Rosewater” was an official selection at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival. Stewart’s directorial debut has already generated “mostly positive reviews” according to Metacritic. While Stewart has written a number of books, “Rosewater” was his first crack at screenwriting, and he was guided by his longtime friends Ron Howard and J.J. Abrams. Stewart straightforwardly tells the true story of one extremely brave man who stood up for what he believed was an injustice to people with little or no political rights. All in all, the film is worth the price of admission, if nothing else than to witness the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

“Rosewater” opens in select theaters on Nov. 14.