In August 2022, author Salman Rushdie was being interviewed at an event in upstate New York when a man rushed onto the stage and stabbed him 15 times in the neck, chest, eye, hand and stomach. His assailant, Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old from New Jersey, later said he had been motivated in part by the 1989 fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini over Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verses”. This “excellent” documentary, directed by the Oscar-winning Alex Gibney, tells the “terrifying, inspiring story” of how he survived that ordeal, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian.
It is narrated by Rushdie himself and makes use of “intimate” hospital-bedside video footage shot by his wife, the poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths, as well as archive footage of his life and career, and of the attack. “What emerges is Rushdie’s courage and his remarkably level-headed, calm and unafraid writerly voice”, insisting on the “primacy of literature” and “freedom of expression”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
