MFDB

Storyline

The Patience Stone is adapted from the best-selling novel by Atiq Rahimi, translated in 33 languages and winner of the most prestigious book award in France (Goncourt Prize) in 2008.

Somewhere, in Afghanistan or elsewhere, in a country torn apart by a war... A beautiful woman in her thirties watches over her husband in a decrepit room. He is reduced to the state of a vegetable because of a bullet in the neck, and not only is he abandonned by his companions of the Jihad, but also by his brothers. One day, the woman starts a solitary confession to her silent husband. She talks about her childhood, her suffering, her frustrations, her loneliness, her dreams, her desires...

She touches him, kisses him, things she could never have done before, even though they have been married for the past 10 years. Therefore, this paralyzed man unconsciously becomes « syngué sabour », a magic stone which, according to Persian mythology, when placed in front of a person shields him from unhappiness, suffering, pains and miseries.
In this wait for her husband to come back to life, the woman struggles to survive and live. She finds refuge in her aunt’s place, who is a prostitute, and the only relative who understands her. The woman seeks to free herself from suffering through the words she delivers audaciously to her husband. But after weeks looking after him, she will actually reveal
herself in the relationship she starts with a young soldier…

Festivals & Academy awards and others

BFI London Film Festival 2012
Journey
Gijon International Film Festival 2012
Official Selection

Gijon International Film Festival 2012
Best Actress (Golshifteh Farahani)
Fipresci Prize
European Film Awards (EFA) 2013
Finalist
César 2014
Nominated

Releases

Spain (6 of September 2013)
France (20 of February 2013)