INFIDEL Director: Movieguide® Helped Me with My Faith Journey
By Movieguide® Staff
INFIDEL Director Cyrus Nowrasteh credits Movieguide® with influencing his faith journey during his time in Hollywood.
“Coming into the Movieguide® community was eye opening for me and was part of my faith journey to Christianity,” said Nowrasteh, who also directed THE STONING OF SORAYA M. and THE YOUNG MESSIAH. “I think you’ll see it in my movies. I think you’ll see it in my life, and it’s been really something that I just couldn’t have done without Movieguide®.”
Nowrasteh’s latest movie, INFIDEL, was released this year and discusses Christian persecution in the modern age.
The movie was inspired by stories of martyrdom around the world.
“Bob Levinson, that’s one of them,” Nowrasteh said as he began to list others. “There’s Michael White. There was a Chinese American graduate student Zhu Wang, a guy named Robin Shahini. All of them are held in prison in Iran for various charges and, you know, proselytizing, trying to spread Christianity is a standard charge for which they’ll round up people including Iranian Christians. Persecution is rampant there.”
Nowrasteh himself was born into a family of Muslim origin and spent some time in Iran growing up.
“My parents, well, they were lucky they were able to come to the United States when they were young,” Nowrasteh said. “I was born in the United States. I did live in Iran.
“As a child I was exposed to Islam, and that part of the world. And it educated me in a lot of ways,” but ultimately Nowrasteh came to Christ and eventually developed a friendship with Movieguide® Founder and Publisher, Dr. Ted Baehr.
Nowrasteh met Dr. Baehr at the 18th Annual Movieguide® Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry where Nowrateh’s THE STONING OF SORAYA M. co-won the Faith & Freedom® Award.
Nowrasteh’s THE YOUNG MESSIAH won the Epiphany Prize® For the Most Inspiring Movie of 2016.
“[The Movieguide® Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry] was an important day in my life,” Nowrasteh said. “One of the amazing things was meeting Dr. Baehr that night, and it sparked a relationship of friendship. That’s very meaningful to me on so many different levels–in my faith, in my personal life, in my creative life, and it’s had a huge impact.”
Click here to make a difference in Hollywood today.
- Content: +3Share:
- Content: +2