Watch trailer: Jon Stewart's first film 'Rosewater' based on real life story of journalist held in Iran

Talk show host and noted political satirist Jon Stewart's first feature film Rosewater premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday. The film is a look at the life of journalists covering war and conflicts.

Stewart took a break from his show The Daily Show, to shoot the film last summer. The film is based on the real life story of Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari who was arrested after Iran's presidential elections in 2009 and tortured for over a 100 days. 

Bahari was covering the elections and appeared on Stewart's show in an interview intended as a satirical bit. The joke didn't go down well with Iranian authorities who arrested him a few days after the show.

The film is based on the book Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival, written by Bahari himself with Aimee Molloy. 

The film stars actor Gael Garcia Bernal as Bahari with actress Shohreh Aghdashloo playing his mother.

Stewart co-wrote the script for Rosewater. The film's name is based on Bahari's only knowledge of his interrogator- that he smelt of rosewater.

The film seems timely in light of the recent beheading of US journalist James Foley in Syria and those still held hostage by the Islamic State.

Watch the film trailer here: