Salman Rushdie Talks Recovery and Resilience at Sundance 2026
Salman Rushdie made a poignant appearance at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where a new documentary titled Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie received a standing ovation from the audience. The film delves into the author's harrowing journey of physical and spiritual healing following a brutal knife attack in 2022 that nearly claimed his life.
The Attack and Its Aftermath
On 12 August 2022, as Salman Rushdie prepared to deliver a lecture on protecting writers at New York's Chautauqua Institution, a masked assailant stormed the stage and stabbed him 15 times in the face, neck, and torso. The Indian-born British-American author, who had previously been targeted by a fatwa from Iran's leader in the 1980s, survived the attack but suffered severe injuries, including severed tendons in his left hand and the loss of his right eye. Audience members intervened to disarm the attacker, saving Rushdie's life.
The documentary, directed by Alex Gibney and based on Rushdie's memoir, opens with a graphic recreation of the 27-second assault from Rushdie's perspective. It features never-before-seen footage recorded by his wife, poet and author Rachel Eliza Griffiths, showing Rushdie in the aftermath with gruesome injuries, such as discoloured skin, extensive abdominal stitches, and a mangled eye. Rushdie recalls that his first coherent thought upon regaining consciousness was, "We need to document this."
Defiance Against Political Violence
In the film, Rushdie emphasises that the documentary is not solely about his personal ordeal but addresses a broader issue of political violence. He stated at the festival, "For the authoritarian, culture is the enemy. The uncultured and ignorant and tyrannical don't like it. And they take steps against it, which we see every day." He highlighted how violence is often unleashed by unscrupulous individuals using ignorance to attack cultural expression.
Gibney, known for exploring complex subjects in his films, uses the attack as a springboard to examine Rushdie's past, including his upbringing in a secular Muslim family in India and his later life in London, where his writing faced resistance. The documentary also revisits the backlash from the 1988 publication of The Satanic Verses, which led to Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa and widespread protests, with clips of effigy burnings in cities like London and New York.
Connections to Contemporary Issues
During a post-screening discussion, Gibney drew parallels between the historical threats against Rushdie and current events, such as recent unrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He noted that the death threats that forced Rushdie into hiding in the past echo today in how violence can spread due to irresponsible political leadership. Rushdie added that understanding the past is crucial to comprehending present challenges, saying, "if you don't understand what happened then, you don't understand what's happening now."
The film also showcases Rushdie's resilience and humour during his recovery. In response to his assailant's jailhouse interview expressing surprise at Rushdie's survival, the author remarked, "Thank you! That demonstrates intent." Gibney emphasised the importance of maintaining humanity and intimacy in the face of growing authoritarianism.
A Message of Hope and Human Nature
In the documentary's final moments, footage from conference cameras captures the full extent of the attack, highlighting both the violence and the bravery of strangers who rushed to save Rushdie. Reflecting on this, Rushdie told the Sundance crowd, "I experienced, almost simultaneously, the worst side of human nature — violence, led by ignorance, induced by the irresponsible — and on the other hand, the best side of human nature, because the first people who saved my life were the audience."
He added that these individuals risked themselves to defend him against an ideologically driven attacker, demonstrating that humanity is capable of both darkness and profound courage. General release details for Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie are set to be announced at a later date, with the film serving as a powerful testament to recovery and resistance in turbulent times.
