I watched the movie Khamosh Pani, translated in English as Silent Water, written and directed by Sabiha Sumar, about two years ago and it’s been a movie that has stuck with me for awhile. I couldn’t recall the name of the movie, so I went on a google rampage. I was hoping by chance it would be written or directed by a female, and to my benefit it was both written and directed by a female. I remembered the story being very influential for South Asian women, and I was curious to finding out if the story followed the auteur theory.
Sabiha Sumar is a Pakistani independent filmmaker who studied Filmmaking and Political Science in New York and then History and Political Thought at Cambridge University (Wikipedia). She was able to use her studies in Filmmaking and Political Science as her documentaries and films show a great deal of politics in the traditional Asian and Islamic community. Her individual style and personal stories give her work it’s special and unique stamp.
Silent Water, released in 2003, is set in 1979 Pakistan. Based on true events, a marital law was imposed by General Zia-Ul-Haq, who was the “4th Chief Martial Law Administrator and the 6th President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988” (Wikipedia). The “country is decreed a Muslim state” within a couple months of his rule, which prompt the character developments and storyline (Verma, IMDB). She has earned much acclaim for this film, which is also her first feature film. It tackles social and political issues such as religious fundamentalism in Pakistan that effect women. The success of the movie has been broadcasted in film festivals around the world, also winning Surmar a Golden Leopard award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2003 (Wikipedia).
As a female filmmaker, she takes on very ambitious issues such as religion and tradition. Surmar is credited for bringing attention to matters of fundamentalism and critical debate on the customs of Muslim women. She is not known for genres such as “romantic comedies” or “teen drama”, but for dramas, documentaries, and true stories. Her films empower women and even men by introducing compelling stories based on true events that are occurring or have occurred in rigid cultures and indeed they are far from cheesy.
Photo Credit:
http://asiasociety.org/files/SilentWaters01.jpg
Works Cited:
"Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 19 Nov. 2011.
"Sabiha Sumar." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 19 Mar. 2011. Web. 19 Nov. 2011.
Varma, Sujit R. "Silent Waters (2003) - Plot Summary." The Internet Movie Database
(IMDb). 2003. Web. 19 Nov. 2011.
plotsummary>.
It is good to see a courageous film maker tackle the political issues and religious fundamentalism that effects women in that region. Most film makers would try to stay away from those raw and gritty topics to avoid any kind of backlash or issues towards them
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