Shirin Ebadi: Until We Are Free

The first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Shirin Ebadi has inspired millions around the globe through her work as a human rights lawyer defending women and children against a brutal regime in Iran. Now the film, Until We Are Free, tells her story of courage and defiance in the face of a government out to destroy her, her family, and her mission: to bring justice to the people and the country she loves. Best known in this country as the lawyer working tirelessly on behalf of Canadian photojournalist, Zara Kazemi- raped, tortured and murdered in Iran- the film, Until We Are Free, tells of the struggle of one woman against the system. It is a gripping story. For years the Islamic Republic tried to intimidate Ebadi, but after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rose to power in 2005, the censorship and persecution intensified. The government wiretapped Ebadis phones, bugged her law firm, sent spies to follow her, harassed her colleagues, detained her daughter, and arrested her sister on trumped-up charges. It shut down her lectures, fired up mobs to attack her home, seized her offices, and nailed a death threat to her front door. Despite finding herself living under circumstances reminiscent of a spy novel, nothing could keep Ebadi from speaking out and standing up for human dignity. ThennIranian government would end up taking everything from Shirin Ebadi- her marriage, her home, her legal career, even her Nobel Prize- butnnthe one thing it could never steal was her spirit to fight for justice and a better future. This is the amazing, at times harrowing, simply astonishing story of a woman who would never give up, no matter the risks.