When Iranian-born journalist Maziar Bahari returned to his country of birth to cover the 2009 elections, he didn’t think he would spend the half a year being tortured in Iran’s infamous Evin Prison. Bahari chronicled these events in his memoir, They Came For Me, and the story has been now made into a film that hit theaters on November 14, 2014. Titled Rosewater, the film also marks the directorial and screenwriting debut of “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, who had a connection to the events of Bahari’s plight, as a “Daily Show” interview Bahari made prior to his unlawful arrest was used as proof (in the minds of his captors) that he was a spy working through American TV counterparts.

We sat down with Bahari for an intimate discussion about his trials and tribulations, and the making of a film about a dark spot of his life that he uses to bring brightness to the rest of the world.

So with all the attention that the story has gotten, especially with the film coming out, are there good things you can pull from now having to relive it, unfortunately?
I don’t think that is the case. I can talk about it; that doesn’t mean I’m reliving it. The film is part of the same process that started in prison — when I was in the interrogation room, in the solitary confinement cells. I promised myself that when I get out of prison, I’m going to talk about what’s happening to many journalists around the world. But also I thought I should talk about what sustained me in prison, how I did manage to survive this ordeal. Because of that, I thought I should talk about it, as soon as I came out.

As soon as I came out I started to write, and I wrote about 50,000 words in 20 days. And then I wrote a Newsweek article, and I talked about it in different interviews, and I worked on the script, I was on the set, I was here with the film, and now I’m talking to you; this is all part of the same process, to bring attention to the plight of many journalists who are going through the same thing — but also to share the same experience that I don’t think is limited to me, because I learned through that ordeal, and I think I have a responsibility to share that experience, and share that story with other people.

Beyond obviously the joy of getting past it, and getting out, and being able to see your wife and your mother and newborn child, are there things that you personally learned about yourself throughout the experience, that you were able to take away from the experience?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I always knew that I was a relatively resourceful person, but I didn’t know how resourceful I could be. When you’re in solitary confinement, they deprive you of all of your senses — everything that you can rely on. Right now, if I feel a little bit thirsty, I take a sip, I put it back. If I feel a bit tired, I walk around; you’re here, I could ask you a question.

But when you’re in a solitary confinement cell, you’re deprived of all of your senses. You cannot see anything, because you’re surrounded by walls. You cannot hear anything, because the walls are so thick. You cannot taste anything, because everything tastes like cardboard. Then there’s your sense of smell, there’s nothing, because everything’s so clean — it smells almost like… it’s not even like the hospital, where you can smell the medicine. You become suicidal, you become delusional.

What you can do is you can tap into your inner resources. So, yes, I was a resourceful person, in terms of the difficult situations I was in, but in a desperate situation, when you’re in solitary confinement, you tap into yourself. You go into yourself, all the feelings that you have, all the books that you have read, the music you remember, everything. That’s what I realized, I had this psychological battle with my captor, and I knew because of the life that I had had, the rich life I had, that I could win that psychological battle, because I was sure that I would have that life.

It’s also funny, the idea of humanizing your captor to yourself…because obviously this is a person, not to be given any leeway to, to a certain point. It’s almost like he is just a typical employee anywhere being micro-managed. Do you feel in any way, not necessarily compassion, but sorry for him, your interrogator?
I felt so sorry for him! I told myself that I was going to win a psychological battle with him, because I knew that he did not have the rich life that I had. He wasn’t a cultured person, like I was. If he had that life, he had that culture, he would not choose that job. It was a horrible job to have – to spend your whole life in a dark interrogation room, beating people, lying to people, and the idea that you’re going to paradise for doing all those horrible things.

I felt really sorry for him! I still feel really sorry for him! I can hate him, I can be angry with him, and of course, sometimes I have hateful emotions, and I have anger, but at the end of the day, when I think about him rationally, I feel sorry for him. I wish he could have another job, where he could, maybe, have a normal life. He could be an accountant, a bookkeeper. He could be a government employee, doing something else; a bus driver, an engineer…normal jobs that could help people somehow.

In regards to the film itself, obviously Jon [Stewart] had a certain connection to it, ahead of time. Originally from the piece that he did with you on “The Daily Show,” and then meeting you after, and talking about it, going through it. But because he had such a familiarity with the story, and you yourself, did that make you feel more comfortable that he was the right person to bring this project to life?
Oh, yeah, definitely. When we started to talk about the film, he was going to just produce it. For about a year and a half, we had different directors and writers, and then our friendship deepened; we became more comfortable with each other; we had more confidence in each other’s ability. When he started to write the script, and it was quite a collaborative effort, then I became quite comfortable with him, because first of all, he was very open, because he’s a very thoughtful person, he’s a genius. But at the same time, he was so open to ideas, he was so inclusive.

With the connections that he has and the people that he knows, all of these things happened. He showed the script to Ron Howard, to JJ Abrams, to Mike Nichols, and all those people. And then he surrounded himself with good people, from Scott Rudin, to the camera department, the first assistant director, to the editor. All these people helped him to realize his vision, and he had a vision as well.

We all know how great of an actor Gael Garcia Bernal is, but were you yourself surprised when you were told, “Okay, you’ve got a Mexican-born actor, to come and portray you”?
No, because I was involved on a daily basis, with the whole process, because decisions were not made without me knowing. So I was actually really happy that they chose Gael, because he had been one of my favorite actors since I saw him in Amores Perros and Y Tu Mama Tambien. So I was really happy with the choice that had been made.

Did he spend an inordinate amount of time with you at all?
Oh yeah. I was on the set every day, so we met before the filming started. He had read the book, he asked me questions, he had interest, and he had read my reports. So the good thing about Gael is he’s not a typical Hollywood actor, you know, where he just does things on demand. He’s quite a knowledgeable person. He has done the major festivals, and made films. He’s very political; he’s coming from a political background, so he knows about politics.

I don’t know if you saw it, or heard about it, but I just saw a film at the New York Film Festival Syria: Self-Portrait, which is a documentary about a guy who, during Arab Spring, fled Syria and moved to France. But he had footage from the ground when things went bad, and had people to send him footage of what was going on. I know what goes on in the world, but I never thought I’d be privy to seeing certain things in my lifetime. Is it a little dangerous that people are really kind of blind to what’s really going on out there, no matter how much the media sources portray it. I was just wondering, as someone who has dealt with these things first hand, how dangerous is it that so many people are so uninformed?
Ignorance is bliss, but it can really hurt people. When you are ignorant about the rest of the world, when something like 9/11 happens, you ask the questions, “Why do they hate us?” You have to know what is going on. Of course, 9/11 was a tragedy. The people who perpetrated it were terrorists. But many people were ignorant about what was going on. And ignorance is mutual.

Many people are ignorant about too many things. Even the Iranian politicians are ignorant about the way the decisions are made in America — the relationship between Congress and the administration. As a result, they make bad decisions, and sometimes they make tragic decisions that bring their own authority to the matter as well.

And that gives people like Ahmadinejad the power to control everything.
Exactly! But where you say Ahmadinejad, I might say Dick Cheney on the other hand…

Oh, I’m right with you, there. But to help in your continuing efforts to spread the word about what really goes on in the world, do you plan on creating any fictionalized work that revolves around the themes that can help to bring these things to light?
If there is another director who is interested in doing this. Not my story, necessarily, but yeah. I have an organization where we are trying to help other journalists in peril, in perilous situations. We’re trying to raise awareness about this situation. Yes, exactly.