Dec 6, 2022 | 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture is a feature documentary that follows the story of tireless researchers who trace the origins of the anti-gay movement among Christians to a grave mistranslation of the Bible in 1946. It chronicles the discovery of never-before-seen archives at Yale University which unveil astonishing new revelations, and casts significant doubt on any biblical basis for LGBTQIA+ prejudice. Featuring commentary from prominent scholars as well as opposing pastors, including the personal stories of the film’s creators, 1946 is at once challenging, enlightening, and inspiring.
While other documentaries have been successful in their attempt to treat the symptom of homophobia in the church, 1946 is working to diagnose and treat the disease - Biblical Literalism.
THE LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR ONLINE: The title of "The Stoning of Soraya M." gives away the film's ending in a spoiler of sorts. But it also should serve as a warning. The film depicts the ancient form of capital punishment, still used in much of the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, in all its gruesome horror and seen in real time for 15 minutes.
Compounding the wrenching depiction of the stoning is the true story of Soraya, an Iranian woman killed in 1990 because she refused to give her husband a divorce. So he conspired against her, using Islamic Sharia law to get her condemned to death. Soraya's story was written by French-based Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, and he's played in the opening scene by Jim Caviezel.
Passing through a remote village, he is confronted by a woman who is defying civic and religious authorities in talking to him. But Zahra (Shohreh Aghdashloo) wants him to tape her story of the horrors that have just transpired there, ending the day before in the execution of her niece, Soraya.
Told through flashbacks, the story unfolds with power and pain. Soraya (Mozhan Marno), a mother of four, is told by the village imam that her husband, Ali (Navid Negahban), wants a divorce so he can marry a 14-year-old girl who has been presented to him by her father, an imprisoned doctor who is using his daughter and cash to bargain his way out of execution. Soraya refuses, saying the offer of the house and a little land will not be enough to support her family, and she doesn't want to become indebted to the manipulative cleric.
Ali, as evil a movie villain as you're going to see, uses his persuasive power to concoct a rumor about Soraya that leads inexorably to her stoning. The details of the lie are hard to believe. But in the male-dominated theocracy of the village, the truth doesn't matter. >>> L. Kent Wolgamott | Thursday, September 24, 2009
