A gripping story from a place where women are less than second-class citizens that insists that they are, in fact, people who deserve to live as they please. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m desperate for stories about women
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Dukhtar (“Daughter”) is an extraordinary film in lots of usual ways: it tells a fresh story that we haven’t seen before, performed by an enchanting and talented cast; it’s a gorgeously shot road movie that travels through some of the most remote and most starkly beautiful terrain on the planet and ends up in a vivacious city, both places we also haven’t seen much of onscreen before; it’s a challenging tale told in a suspenseful, riveting way by a first-time filmmaker.
But Dukhtar — Pakistan’s official entry for Best Foreign Language...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Dukhtar (“Daughter”) is an extraordinary film in lots of usual ways: it tells a fresh story that we haven’t seen before, performed by an enchanting and talented cast; it’s a gorgeously shot road movie that travels through some of the most remote and most starkly beautiful terrain on the planet and ends up in a vivacious city, both places we also haven’t seen much of onscreen before; it’s a challenging tale told in a suspenseful, riveting way by a first-time filmmaker.
But Dukhtar — Pakistan’s official entry for Best Foreign Language...
- 10/9/2015
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Dukhtar, Margarita With A Straw and Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain among outstanding schedule of independent South Asian films to be screened as part of 17th annual Laff.
Organizers have announced the full roster of films and special events for this year’s London Asian Film Festival (Laff) – Europe’s oldest showcase for South Asian cinema.
The Festival takes place across London from 19 March to 28 March and features a string of exciting and acclaimed independent feature films, master classes, special screenings, debates and the Festival’s celebrated short films competition.
This year’s Festival highlights include critically acclaimed films such as Margarita With A Straw, Bhopal – A Prayer for Rain, Dukhtar, Rang Rasiya, The World Before Her and Haider.
The 17th edition London Asian Film Festival is once again organized by Tongues on Fire, which has built an unparalleled reputation for promoting independent cinema as well as providing a showcase for female filmmakers.
Organizers have announced the full roster of films and special events for this year’s London Asian Film Festival (Laff) – Europe’s oldest showcase for South Asian cinema.
The Festival takes place across London from 19 March to 28 March and features a string of exciting and acclaimed independent feature films, master classes, special screenings, debates and the Festival’s celebrated short films competition.
This year’s Festival highlights include critically acclaimed films such as Margarita With A Straw, Bhopal – A Prayer for Rain, Dukhtar, Rang Rasiya, The World Before Her and Haider.
The 17th edition London Asian Film Festival is once again organized by Tongues on Fire, which has built an unparalleled reputation for promoting independent cinema as well as providing a showcase for female filmmakers.
- 3/18/2015
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
Dominated by the commercial trends of the region, which mostly align with India’s outlandish Bollywood, the Pakistani film industry rarely offers productions that tackle its society’s specific challenges from a progressive perspective. Under this system, creating a film that questions the ancient patriarchal structures and the way they hinder women’s ability to flourish as individuals was even a more unlikely reality. To highlight the torment that is brought upon women forced into a life of servitude and silence, director Afia Nathaniel, a Pakistani women herself who knows this world and its negative repercussions, focused her efforts on a singular quest to end the cycle. Her defiant debut feature “Dukhtar” or “Daughter” follows a mother and her young daughter traveling through rural landscapes to escape the predetermined future chosen by the men that claim to own them.
Accustomed to the only life she’s ever known, Allah Rakhi (Samiya Mumtaz), a young mother and wife living in a small mountain village, tries to channel all her unfilled hopes into her playful ten-year-old daughter Zainab (Saleha Aref). Still unaware of how her voice will be terribly silenced once she becomes someone’s property against her will, cheeky Zainab enjoys spending time with her mother and teaching her English. Her distant father Daulat Khan (Asif Khan) is much more concerned with finding a solution for an ongoing tribal dispute. Taking advantage of Daulat Khan’s desperation, Tor Gul (Abdullah Jan), the rival leader, demands Zainab’s hand in marriage in order to end the bloodshed. The girl’s father agrees. Jeopardizing her own life, Allah Rakhi runs off with her daughter without a plan. Her only objective is to safeguard her innocence and to offer her the one gift she was never given: a choice.
As expected, both Tor Gul’s and Daulat Khan’s henchmen are sent to find them at any cost. Their mission is to bring Zainab back alive regardless of what happens to her mother. Along the way Allah Rakhi befriends Sohail (Mohib Mirza), a kindhearted man who decides helping her get her daughter to safety is the right thing to do. Through such nerve-racking journey Allah Rakhi discovers what it means to be treated as whole and meaningful person and not just a silent spectator at the mercy of another’s wishes. Assertively, Nathaniel decides not to take the romantic path and reduce her protagonist into a woman falling into another man’s arms. Instead, she concentrates her efforts in exploring he broken bond between mothers and daughters due to an ideology in which their contributions are not appreciated and alienation is the deadliest weapon.
Allah Rakhi has not been allowed to see her mother ever since she got married, and the same was to be expected for Zainab’s life. Cut off from their own worlds women are reduced to be perpetual strangers in the homes of the men that don’t known beyond their role as a commodity. As Allah Rakhi, Samiya Mumtaz gives a topnotch performance that shines for its restraint. She is a woman driven by her love for her daughter, which allows her to confront the inherent fear implanted in her. Her work is a standout and crucial piece in “Dukhtar.” It’s evident that the film centers on the lack of freedom that women experience not only in Pakistan but in numerous traditional societies, yet, Afia Nathaniel manages to showcase her homeland’s beauty and makes it clear that this is not a story about gender confrontation, but about an securing and equal opportunity to find fulfillment.
With its evocative musical score and by cinematographer Armughan Hassan's gorgeous vistas that adorned the chaotic road, “Dukhtar” is a small gem forged out the director’s desire to craft a story which, tough small in scope, could connect with Pakistani people on a more profound level than the shiny musical tales in mainstream local cinema ever could. This is in its own right a groundbreaking film unlike anything done by a director from this particular part of the world. It's art and social change united in harmony via soulful storytelling. Nathaniel’s vision captures the heart of this broken bond that must be rebuilt, for mothers, for daughters, for all.
Accustomed to the only life she’s ever known, Allah Rakhi (Samiya Mumtaz), a young mother and wife living in a small mountain village, tries to channel all her unfilled hopes into her playful ten-year-old daughter Zainab (Saleha Aref). Still unaware of how her voice will be terribly silenced once she becomes someone’s property against her will, cheeky Zainab enjoys spending time with her mother and teaching her English. Her distant father Daulat Khan (Asif Khan) is much more concerned with finding a solution for an ongoing tribal dispute. Taking advantage of Daulat Khan’s desperation, Tor Gul (Abdullah Jan), the rival leader, demands Zainab’s hand in marriage in order to end the bloodshed. The girl’s father agrees. Jeopardizing her own life, Allah Rakhi runs off with her daughter without a plan. Her only objective is to safeguard her innocence and to offer her the one gift she was never given: a choice.
As expected, both Tor Gul’s and Daulat Khan’s henchmen are sent to find them at any cost. Their mission is to bring Zainab back alive regardless of what happens to her mother. Along the way Allah Rakhi befriends Sohail (Mohib Mirza), a kindhearted man who decides helping her get her daughter to safety is the right thing to do. Through such nerve-racking journey Allah Rakhi discovers what it means to be treated as whole and meaningful person and not just a silent spectator at the mercy of another’s wishes. Assertively, Nathaniel decides not to take the romantic path and reduce her protagonist into a woman falling into another man’s arms. Instead, she concentrates her efforts in exploring he broken bond between mothers and daughters due to an ideology in which their contributions are not appreciated and alienation is the deadliest weapon.
Allah Rakhi has not been allowed to see her mother ever since she got married, and the same was to be expected for Zainab’s life. Cut off from their own worlds women are reduced to be perpetual strangers in the homes of the men that don’t known beyond their role as a commodity. As Allah Rakhi, Samiya Mumtaz gives a topnotch performance that shines for its restraint. She is a woman driven by her love for her daughter, which allows her to confront the inherent fear implanted in her. Her work is a standout and crucial piece in “Dukhtar.” It’s evident that the film centers on the lack of freedom that women experience not only in Pakistan but in numerous traditional societies, yet, Afia Nathaniel manages to showcase her homeland’s beauty and makes it clear that this is not a story about gender confrontation, but about an securing and equal opportunity to find fulfillment.
With its evocative musical score and by cinematographer Armughan Hassan's gorgeous vistas that adorned the chaotic road, “Dukhtar” is a small gem forged out the director’s desire to craft a story which, tough small in scope, could connect with Pakistani people on a more profound level than the shiny musical tales in mainstream local cinema ever could. This is in its own right a groundbreaking film unlike anything done by a director from this particular part of the world. It's art and social change united in harmony via soulful storytelling. Nathaniel’s vision captures the heart of this broken bond that must be rebuilt, for mothers, for daughters, for all.
- 12/4/2014
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Not Without My Dukhtar: Nathaniel’s Debut a Sobering Drama
On paper, the premise of director Afia Nathaniel’s debut, Dukhtar (Daughter), sounds like it has the potential to be emotionally exhausting. And while the situation it’s depicting is certainly unsettling and upsetting, Nathaniel chooses to place the film in a more hopeful dwelling, something that works for and against the film. As concerns a woman striking out against her culture’s repression of women in Pakistan, a community and country not often depicted in film, Nathaniel recalls Haifaa Al-Mansour’s 2012 film Wadjda, about a young girl in Saudi Arabia. While we’re not as emotionally engaged with the women at the center of this tale as in Al-Mansour’s more light-treading film, the specific locale is what lends this otherwise slight tale some weight, crafted quite similarly to American women-in-trouble pictures showcasing women fleeing from abusive spouses.
On paper, the premise of director Afia Nathaniel’s debut, Dukhtar (Daughter), sounds like it has the potential to be emotionally exhausting. And while the situation it’s depicting is certainly unsettling and upsetting, Nathaniel chooses to place the film in a more hopeful dwelling, something that works for and against the film. As concerns a woman striking out against her culture’s repression of women in Pakistan, a community and country not often depicted in film, Nathaniel recalls Haifaa Al-Mansour’s 2012 film Wadjda, about a young girl in Saudi Arabia. While we’re not as emotionally engaged with the women at the center of this tale as in Al-Mansour’s more light-treading film, the specific locale is what lends this otherwise slight tale some weight, crafted quite similarly to American women-in-trouble pictures showcasing women fleeing from abusive spouses.
- 9/6/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The lineups for the Mavericks, Discovery, and Tiff Kids parts of the Toronto Film Festival were announced, wrapping up a series of lineup announcements for the Toronto International Film Festival.
With the added films, the festival’s entire slate is now a whopping 393 movies. Two hundred eighty-five of those movies are feature films, of which 143 are world premieres.
The Mavericks portion of the festival includes onstage discussions following the screening of each film. Do I Sound Gay? will be followed by a talk between director David Thorpe and sex-advice guru Dan Savage. Also premiering in that space is The 50 Year Argument,...
With the added films, the festival’s entire slate is now a whopping 393 movies. Two hundred eighty-five of those movies are feature films, of which 143 are world premieres.
The Mavericks portion of the festival includes onstage discussions following the screening of each film. Do I Sound Gay? will be followed by a talk between director David Thorpe and sex-advice guru Dan Savage. Also premiering in that space is The 50 Year Argument,...
- 8/19/2014
- by Jacob Shamsian
- EW - Inside Movies
Bill Murray is coming to Toronto folks. Actually, the film he stars in (Theodore Melfi’s St. Vincent) is having its official World Premiere launch at the jaw-dropping 285 feature film 2014 Tiff line-up. In the final batch of items we finally get the confirmation that 2014′s Palme d’Or Winner Winter Sleep (which gets added along with a trio of others to the Masters Programme) will show, and Tomm Moore’s highly anticipated Song of the Sea (among the four item line-up for Tiff Kids) also lands. Worth mentioning are the sprinkling of add-ons to the various other sections (Marjane Satrapi’s Sundance preemed The Voices, Matt Shakman’s Cut Bank and the world preem of Danis Tanovic’s Tigers) with a Studio Ghibli docu item being fitted into the Tiff Docs, but it is the Discovery Programme that finally takes shape.
The “up-and-comers” include Berlin Film Fest (and future Nyff...
The “up-and-comers” include Berlin Film Fest (and future Nyff...
- 8/19/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
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