It wasn't all **Rosewater **for the Debate Gala screening of Jon Stewart's directorial debut last night. There was a fair helping of rainwater too. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, **Rosewater **tells the story of Maziar Bahari's capture, detainment and torture by government officials while he was working in Iran reporting on the 2009 general election. The film is an exploration of the power of reporting and the ways in which authoritarian regimes try to control the media.
The film is Jon Stewart's first foray into the world of directing and certainly suggested that his talents don't just lie in skewering politicians on satirical news programme The Daily Show. Speaking to **Empire **in the pouring rain, Stewart discussed what it was about Behari's story in particular that enticed him to the world of film making.
“I think the connection he had with the show, having done a bit with us, meant that we became very invested in his story once he was arrested along with the two other gentlemen who were arrested that we had spoken to, Ebrahim Yazdi an old revolutionary and a cleric named Abdi He. I think that our investment in wishing them well and wanting them to get out is what originally spurred the contact. And from there Maziar and I happened to become friends and the story then moved more organically from that.”
Also on the red carpet was the man at the centre of the film, Maziar Behari, accompanying Stewart and making all other journalists in the press scrum feel a little less committed to their profession. Behari was eager to talk about the world of journalism and how in the modern age it is quickly changing around us.
“Professional journalism is becoming less powerful because information is becoming available to ordinary citizens. Every citizen is in media now; every citizen can express himself or herself these days and that is what is really scaring the authoritarian regimes now because they are afraid that the free flow of information can undermine their control of their people. And because of that they're suppressing journalists, they're supressing media, they're suppressing citizen journalists in general.”
J.J. Abrams made a surprise appearance at the screening, but the Star Trek and Star Wars director was keen to get out of the miserable weather. The supporting cast of **Rosewater **braved the torrents to answer questions from the soaked press. Amir El-Masry, who plays Alireza, a vocal supporter of the Ahmadinejad regime, discussed working with two very politically motivated individuals such as Stewart and Behari.
“It's hard to keep up. I had to do my work and my research, but they don't make you feel intimidated whatsoever. They make you feel at ease with the situation and that's why Jon Stewart is the man he is, you know? He doesn't make you feel so little. He makes you feel like you're at his level even though you're not, at all!”
**Rosewater **also stars Kim Bodnia, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jason Jones and Haluk Bilginer and will be opening in UK cinemas in March 2015.
Reporting by Joshua Hammond