Reviews

Forbidden Lie$

Kris Rothstein

Forbidden Lie$ tells the story of Norma Khouri, who shot to fame when her book, Forbidden Love, became a bestseller. The book claimed to tell the story of Khouri’s best friend, who was murdered by her own family because she dated a man of a different religion. Readers and members of the media around the world joined a campaign against the practice of honour killings in Jordan and other countries. The only problem was that Khouri’s book was a fake—a fact that came to light after a few Jordanian journalists pointed out numerous factual errors in the story. Anna Broinowski, the filmmaker, approached Khouri to set the record straight. What follows in the film is a bizarre series of mind games, misinformation and manipulation. Khouri is uncovered as an American with an Australian husband; both are con artists wanted by the FBI. Despite the hard evidence provided by Broinowski, Khouri has an answer and an excuse for every accusation, justifying every lie as a necessity and claiming that her life is under threat. Filmmaker and subject finally travel to Jordan, the site of the story Khouri told in her book, for a fascinating personal battle to separate truth from lies.

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