By Behjat (Behi) Henderson
Co-Chair, Gender Institute Film Committee
Adjunct Faculty, Buffalo State College 

Each year many great films that were originally featured at film festivals are nominated for Oscars; however, many other equally deserving films are passed over because they are never released commercially.  Most of the public misses seeing these important films except for those of us fortunate enough to attend international film festivals where these brilliant pieces shine.

The Toronto International Film Festival, the largest film festival in the world, celebrated its thirty-first anniversary late last year, bringing to light a range of burgeoning issues through shorts, documentaries and full feature films.  Among the many films shown, moviemakers from Canada, France, Germany, India, Iran, Pakistan, Portugal, Turkey and the US explored numerous themes relating to war, sexual identity, death and dying, repression, rape, honor killings, and the exploitation of workers and women.

Two films which dealt directly with the issue of rape and violence against women’s rights, Shame and Vanaja, are examples of non-commercial gems. While we were unable to bring these critically important works to Buffalo for the International Women’s Film Festival this year, if you ever have the opportunity to view them, I urge you to do so. These films will not be remembered for their cinematic pleasures and entertainment value but rather for their disturbing graphic imagery.

Shame

Shame is the story of a poor and illiterate woman, Mukhtaran Mai, who was raised in a remote village in Pakistan. Her tragedy begins in 2002 when the tribal council sanctions a punishment against her for a crime of which her brother was accused: interest in a girl from a higher social class. She is judged guilty only because of her membership in the same family. Mukhtaran is paraded naked in public after she is gang-raped in retribution. Her family and other villagers expect her to commit suicide soon after.

Instead of following the tragic path of other women, Mukhtaran decides to seek justice without the help of her family or the villagers. In doing so, she shakes up the informal, barbaric justice system that punishes female victims and allows male aggressors to go free.  Fortunately international press and human rights activists were also helpful in turning her case into a cause by publishing her story in several newspapers and by pressuring the Pakistani government to punish the perpetrators. After enduring a daunting series of hardships, she prevails.  Furthermore, she uses the reparation money awarded to her to set up two schools(one for girls and one for boys) a women’s shelter, as well as other facilities to improve the condition of women in Meerwala.

Shame is a critically important and powerful film that challenges its viewers with the harsh realities that face poor, rural women in Pakistan and other parts of the world.  Ms. Mai not only pursues justice in the face of overwhelming odds, she uses her personal tragedy to promote increased safety, justice, and freedom for all people, in similar circumstances. Even the children of her attackers are enrolled in the school she established!  Without any social support, literacy, money or power, the film shows how she strove for and achieved what others considered impossible because of her determination.

Director: Mohammed Nagvi
Producer: Jill Schneider
Pakistan/USA 2006
110 minutes

Mohammed Nagvi was born in Montreal and grew up in Canada, the United States and Pakistan. Shame is one of thirty of his projects included in the “Talent Project Market” at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004.

Vanaja

Vanaja, a first film by Rajnesh Domalpalli, also features a heroine whose civil rights are erased by gender and class bias.  Vanaja is a beautiful fifteen-year-old, low-caste girl in Andhra Pradesh, India, who ardently desires to become a kuchipudi dancer, an art form usually reserved for high-caste Brahmins. To achieve this objective she goes to work as a maid in the house of the imperious Mrs. Rama Devi, a former dance instructor, and ingratiates herself to the mistress.  All goes well until Mrs. Devi’s son, Shekhar, returns from the United States. Shekhar, though significantly older than Vanaja, seduces and uses her, and soon leaves her pregnant.  Mrs. Devi wants her son to pursue political office and will not tolerate an illegitimate child born to a low-caste girl.  Authorities in rural South India will dare not to take action against a powerful and wealthy male for the rape of a minor.

Despite Mrs. Devi’s fury, her alcoholic father’s anger, and her village’s disapproval, Vanaja strives to raise her son, deriving solace from the art she loves.

Director, Rajnesh Domalpalli says that he was originally inspired by the movie Sophie’s Choice. He was trying to tell a tale about mother-child separation, class distinction and conflict that is still very much a part of life in rural India.

Vanaja’s performance as the lead character is almost perfect considering that she is a non-professional actress who learned the complex kuchipudi dances in the basement of a house. The colorful costumes, the beautiful dances and the authentic village setting and the important subject of the film makes this movie worthwhile to watch.

Director: Rajnesh Domalpalli
Producer:  Latha R. Domalapalli
India/USA 2006
111 minutes

Rajnesh Domalpalli was born in Chennai, India and is currently studying film at Columbia University.

My Cultural Divide

Another important film which was featured in the Montreal World Film Festival and fortunately will be shown in Buffalo on Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 7 pm at the Market Arcade Film and Arts Centre is Faisal Lutchmedial’s My Cultural Divide. In this very personal exploration of family heritage and global trade, Lutchmedial accompanies his aging mother from Canada where he enjoys a middle-class Western lifestyle to her homeland, Bangladesh.  There he and Tara Arnst, his longtime companion and cinematographer, document both the differences of a culture in which Lutchmedial did not grow up and, with the help of distant relatives, visit some of the worst sweatshops in the country.  He interviews workers about their jobs and living conditions, and questions aloud his own assumptions about ethical consuming, child labor, and personal responsibility. The mostly young and vulnerable women work 18 hour days in many factories with only ten minute break to eat. I had the opportunity to speak to the director who told me that the main reason behind making this film was to expose the inadequate and appalling working conditions in the world of sweat shops.

Director: Faisal Lutchmedial
Cinematographer: Tara Arnst
Canada/Bangladesh 2006
75 minutes

Faisal Lutchmedial grew up in Montreal, Canada and received a bachelor’s degree in cinema from Concordia University in Montreal. He has directed music videos, experimental films and short fictions. My Cultural Divide is his first feature film.

About the author

Behjat (Behi) Henderson is an adjunct faculty at Buffalo State College and is the co-chair of the International Women’s Film Festival in Buffalo, New York. Behjat has been part of the Gender Institute film committee since its inception. Her film reviews have been published in the feminist newsjournal off our backs and online.

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