Few would not be aware, even vaguely, of the scandal that erupted around author Norma Khouri. The Jordanian exile had written a best-selling memoir about honour killings in her homeland. Khouri’s best friend Dalia was murdered when her family discovered the Muslim woman had fallen in love with a Christian man. The book, Forbidden Love, was published in several languages and become an international sensation. Then, with a letter from Dick Cheney’s daughter, Khouri moved to Queensland to escape a fatwah. But when the Sydney Morning Herald’s Malcolm Knox broke news that her story was not all it appeared to be, the knives came out. It was alleged that Khouri had left Jordan at the age of three and her book was riddled with factual errors: she was not even in the country at the time of Dalia’s death. The fatwah was merely the grumblings of social workers disgruntled by the way their country had been falsely represented. Random House retracted her book, Khouri’s reputation was in tatters.

Esteemed filmmaker Anna Broinowski sought to sift truth from spin. She interviews key players and travels with Khouri (plus bodyguard) to Jordan. In addressing the allegations, layers of argument are peeled away to reveal yet more argument. So who is the real Norma Khouri, victim or criminal, author or actor? What starts as an apparent character assassination quickly turns into the riveting study of a person driven to any lengths to get what she wants. Yet there’s a playful, mischievous tone to the film. Khouri talks from in front of a proscenium arch and succumbs to a lie-detector test. Covers of Smooth Operator and She’s Not There lend weight, perhaps another type of spin, to the emerging truth. Inventive, wildly entertaining and utterly compelling, Forbidden Lie$ is the documentary version of an airport novel – one you can’t take your eyes off.

// COLIN FRASER