Sabiha Sumar is the only independent film director in
Pakistan. She studied film at Sarah Lawrence College, New York and has
since been making films on social, political and environmental issues.
Her films "Who Will Cast the First Stone", "Karachi" and "Where
Peacocks Dance" have been aired on Channel Four, UK and "Of Mothers,
Mice and Saints" was produced for ZDF, Germany. Her work has been
shown at the London and Rotterdam Film Festivals. Most of her films
cannot be shown in Pakistan.
In the film "For a Place Under the Heavens", Sabiha Sumar provides a fresh and insightful
perspective on Pakistan in this finely crafted personal film.
Beginning with the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Sumar traces the
relationship of Islam to the state in an effort to understand how
women are coping with and surviving the increasing religiosity of
civil and political life in their country.
Juxtaposing interviews with
Pakistani women who have chosen to veil themselves, even in the
absence of any state directive to do so, with observations from her
feminist colleagues who cling to hope for a more secular system, Sumar
dramatically captures the tension between liberal and fundamentalist
forces that are shaping life in contemporary Pakistan.
Chilling
footage of a mother encouraging her toddler to be a martyr when he
grows up, home movies from Sumar’s childhood and the filmmaker’s
cogent political analysis are lyrically combined to create a timely
and compelling document—pulling together the strands of belief,
reinterpretation and reform in Islam.
Her first Indo-Pak film dips
into the history of her country at will, but Pakistani film-maker Sabiha Sumar’s
Khamosh Pani could be the story of any woman.
Movie review:
Khamosh Pani: Simple, yet overwhelming
It
shows how women from both sides were abducted as the Partition divided
the Sikhs and Pakistanis. Khamosh Pani’s story unfolds much later, in
1979, through the widow Ayesha, her dreamy son Saleem and his fiancé
Zubeida. The film, that released this Friday, is layered with beauty,
gentleness, latent violence and tragedy.
Khamosh Pani is a work of fiction, but what triggered it
off?
I was doing research on violence against women in Pakistan and came
across so many abductions of women. I wanted to give the message that
these abductions are part of the process of change in any country. You
can compare Ayesha to women caught in conflict in Bosnia, Sri Lanka or
anywhere else.
It happens again and again. European women identified with Ayesha
and said that it reminded them of Nazi Germany. I also put in my own
experience of growing up in Pakistan where a democratically elected
prime minister was put to death. Indians said that it reminded them of
RSS recruitment.
How did you choose actress Kirron Kher as your main
protagonist?
I wanted an originally Sikh woman who would not just look right for
the role and Paromita (Vohra, who wrote the screenplay) introduced me
to her. I also had three original Sikhs because we had intimate scenes
with their hair down and I didn’t want to use make-up.
The role of Zubeida was played by Delhi actress Shilpa Shukla. Once
we got over the hurdle of visas – the Pakistan government supported
the project – it made no difference that there were Indians on the
set. It was smooth sailing and just work.
How have the Pak Govt and hardline Muslims reacted to it?
We’ve had no problems with the government. It’s also been seen
quite widely, but there’s been no criticism. It’s been pretty quiet.
You show the stifling of democracy during General Zia’s
rule and the emphasis on an Islamic state. You have military rule in
Pakistan now. Are there similarities?
General Musharraf has a different vision. He is on the road to
liberal values and the modernists are backing him. The air is more
open and the present government has been good for Pakistan.
There’s a joke in Khamosh Pani over how Gen Zia fears
elections. Isn’t there an echo of it today?
No, the Musharraf-led government is an experiment with democracy.
If it means stability for the country, we’re well on our road. There
is no intolerance.
Under Zia, a tolerant society became extremist with Islamic laws
and institutions. He took away everything else. Cinema was killed and
he had hard censorship laws. Drama, dance and theatre suffered and he
took away state support of arts. I didn’t realize when I did my next
documentary, For A Place Under The Heavens, that it would be a
background to Khamosh Pani. It traces what Pakistan was like in the
’50s and ’60s and what it’s become.
Extremists exist in every society, but Musharraf has put them in
the periphery.
(Source: Mid-Day + Despardes)
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