Forbidden Lie$ (ATOM Study Guide)

Forbidden Lie$ is an intriguing journey through the life and exploits of Norma Khouri, bestselling author of Forbidden Love (2003). Khouri's book, an account of honour killings in Jordan, was published in sixteen countries and sold between 250,000 and 500,000 copies. But it would seem Khouri's life has never followed a straightforward route, and her book's success was in some ways just the start of the story. The film investigates the scandal surrounding Khouri, with the allegation that the book she claimed was non-fiction was in fact pure fabrication. So began what has been referred to as 'the first great literary hoax of the twenty-first Century'. Forbidden Lie$ director Anna Broinowski has focused her considerable filmmaking talent on a complex and fascinating character. Her film challenges notions of fact and fiction, situating itself somewhere on the blurry, liminal ground in between. It is a sophisticated exploration of the writer's responsibility to the truth, and the relationship of trust established between writers and each one of their readers. The film deploys many elaborate stylistic devices, drawing attention to its own constructed nature. This is no window on reality. In a sense, it's a metadocumentary, an exploration of the highly contested and subjective nature of truth, and the ultimate unknowability of human motivation.