Film Screening: Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters)
Sabiha Sumar/2003/95 min/video/Pakistan

Saturday, April 30, 2005
8:30 - 10:00 pm
Rainey Auditorium

 

Khamosh Pani is set in 1979 in Pakistan, when General Zia-ul-Haq took control of the country and stoked the fires of Islamic nationalism. Ayesha, a Muslim woman who gets by on her late husband’s pension and by teaching young girls the Koran, invests her hopes in her beloved son Saleem. But when Saleem takes up with a group of Islamic fundamentalists just as a group of Sikh pilgrims come to town, Ayesha’s haunted past turns her present life upside down.

Winner! Golden Leopard (Best Film), Best Actress (Kirron Kher) – Locarno International Film Festival

“SILENT WATERS packs a wallop!" - Elvis Mitchell, New York Times
"Sabiha Sumar's debut feature could scarcely be more relevant to Pakistan's present, or, given this country's history of backing such repressive regimes, to ours." -- Joshua Land, Village Voice
“A moving portrayal of societal and religious discord…a rewarding cinematic experience.” – Hollywood Reporter
“Brilliant!” -Indiewire

About the Filmmaker:

Sabiha Sumar was born in Karachi in 1961. She studied filmmaking and political science at the Sarah Lawrence College, New York, and International Relations at the University of Cambridge. Her first documentary, “Who Will Cast the First Stone?” was about the protest of working-class women against the imposition of Islamic law in Pakistan in 1979. In 1992, she founded Vidhi Films. Her 1999 documentary, “Don’t Ask Why?” explores the dreams and aspirations of a young Muslim girl against the backdrop of increasing religiosity in Pakistani society. "Silent Waters" is her debut feature. “Khamosh Pani” has won tremendous critical acclaim, 14 international awards, and has been presented at numerous film festivals around the world.

Filmography:

1988 WHO WILL CAST THE FIRST STONE (tv doc)
1999 DON’T ASK WHY (tv doc)
2003 KHAMOSH PANI (SILENT WATERS)
2003 FOR A PLACE UNDER THE HEAVENS (tv doc)

Director’s Statement:

While Silent Waters is set in times when history and politics are overwhelmingly present, it is about individual lives in the context of that history. It is also about the individual acts that make up this history. It is set in a Pakistan that contains both a timeless way of life and cataclysmic change. The film is the story of people who find ways to make a place home, to make sense of their tragedies, to find happiness and God through love and who sometimes conquer life and are sometimes defeated by it. Silent Waters is the first film of its kind entirely shot in Pakistan. Film culture in Pakistan was virtually eliminated during the Islamisation years under President Zia ul Haq (1977 to 1988). My effort was to cast as many people as possible from around the location where we shot. I worked mainly with inexperienced talent and conducted acting workshops to train my cast. For the main character, I chose an Indian actress, Kirron Kher. When I met her for the first time, I immediately said to myself: “She is Ayesha.” Story-telling is an important part of cultural life. I hope that my work will help to regenerate film culture in Pakistan and contribute to the growth of alternative cinema.

Cast and Credits:

Kirron Kher…………Ayesha
Aamir Malik…………Saleem
Arshad Mahmud……..Mahboob
Salman Shahid……….Amin
Shilpa Shukla………...Zubeida
Sarfaraz Ansari………Rashid
Shazim Ashraf………..Zubair
Navtej Johar…………Jaswant
Fariha Jabeen………..Shabnam
Adnan Shah………….Mazhar
Rehan Sheikh………...Afsaan (Special Guest Appearance)

Story and Film……………Sabiha Sumar
Screenplay………………..Paromita Vohra
Director of Photography…..Ralph Netzer
Editing……………………Bettina Böhler
Producers………………...Sachithanandam Sathananthan, Philippe Avril, Helge Albers Claudia Tronnier