Revealed internationally for her role in Ridley Scott’s “State Lies”, actress Golshifteh Farahani, of Iranian origin, suffered the wrath of the Tehran authorities, to the point of being forced into exile. ..
Former war journalist turned agent, Roger Ferris works for the CIA in the Middle East. He is responsible for tracking down Al-Saleem, one of the leaders of Al-Qaeda, who is hiding in Jordan to prepare attacks against the West. To infiltrate the terrorist’s network, Ferris must first gain the trust of the head of Jordanian intelligence.
With Ed Hoffman, his very skilled division head who supervises him from Washington, they decide to lure Al-Saleem by making him believe in the expansion of a new competing jihadist brotherhood. But is Hoffman really reliable and isn’t he playing a double game?
With Lies of State, a spy thriller released in 2008 and clearly in the vein of these Hollywood productions depicting an America still at war against Islamist terrorism, Ridley Scott plunges Leonardo DiCaprio into the twists and turns of modern conflicts, between Baghdad and Amman. To ultimately deliver a fairly captivating plot, mixing High Tech, reality and fiction.
State lies is also the revelation of a luminous actress of Iranian origin, Golshifteh Farahani, who, thanks to the film, sets foot outside the borders of Iran. She plays the Jordanian nurse Ashai, who charms Roger Ferris.
For this role, the actress is clear with the director: she keeps her clothes and her veil. The contract is signed and Golshifteh is transformed into a symbol of hope and freedom, becoming the first Iranian star to appear in an American production since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
The fury of Tehran
A composition viewed very negatively by the authorities in Tehran. The tension rises further at the end of a red carpet preview in the United States. Golshifteh Farahani appears there unveiled and with a low-cut dress. This is too much for the Mullah regime.
On her return, she is prohibited from leaving the territory. Accused of espionage, she underwent a six-month interrogation, which prevented the actress from going to London for the auditions of Prince of Persia from Disney studios. Thanks to a twenty-four-hour exit authorization, she went into exile in France, leaving her country permanently.
“I am a tree without roots” she sadly confided to the microphone ofEurope 1 in 2016. “I was condemned to live in exile. In Iran, we have this impression of being controlled all the time, from the beginning of our lives […] When I was in Iran, all phones were monitored. I had to look for different booths to call abroad.”
If the actress was able to continue, freely this time, her career and her life in her adopted country, she also confided his fears of one day dying in exile, without being able to return to Iran.