Shumita Didi Sandhu is making a documentary inspired by the marriage of a gypsy girl she befriended in Pakistan
BY RFAN ASLAM
Shumita Didi Sandhu, an independent filmmaker from India, was visiting Harappa when she met a Pakhiwasi girl, Riffat, near the archaeological site and developed a personal relationship with her.
Read more » DAWN
See more » http://www.dawn.com/news/1210745/indian-filmmaker-takes-a-fancy-to-harappas-gypsy-girl
By Dawn.com
Director Mohammed Naqvi,and British producer Jamie Doran’s film Pakistan’s Hidden Shame depicts the shocking reality of sexual abuse faced by small boys in the Northern areas of Pakistan.
The documentary premiered on September 1 on Britain’s Channel 4 and shows the “dark reality of a society living in denial.”
Set mainly in Peshawar, the film shows homeless boys of different ages recalling their experiences of sexual exploitation.
In an interview with CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour, the director of the documentary told her what puts children at risk in Pakistan and around the world.
“Pedophiles by their very nature are inadequate, it’s about power over children.”
“Where these individuals are able to use and abuse vulnerable children, Pakistan in particular because of the poverty. That’s one of the other factors that really plays here.”
Read more » DAWN
http://www.dawn.com/news/1129614/
Jeremy Scahill’s new documentary reveals how dirty wars take innocent lives and make us less safe.
The United States deems Kabul, Afghanistan the center of the “war on terror.” The press corps and other embedded reporters, then, are limited to these borders.
But beyond these green (meaning safe, according to the U.S. govt.) streets of Afghanistan, lies a sea of red (dangerous) and black (Taliban-heavy) streets that go largely unexplored by journalists.
Yet, that’s exactly where investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill begins to delve in his new documentary Dirty Wars, directed by Rick Rowley.
Read more » AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/media/review-jeremy-scahills-new-documentary-dirty-wars
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy became Pakistan’s first Oscar winner for her documentary “Saving Face” on Feb. 26, 2012. Watch the trailer here: http://bit.ly/whEdQZ
Via » Facebook → YouTube
Censoring Dawn TV – by A. H. Nayyar
A very interesting thing happened this evening (28th July).
DawnTV was airing Arshad Sharif’s talk show Reporter. The topic today was growth of Islamic militancy, especially Jundullah within Pakistan’s military and its connection with Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.
He started by showing a documentary on how Jundullah started in Quetta cantonment, how it spread across different formations of the military, showing some footage that looked original.
The discussants with Arshad were Air Marshall Shahzad Choudhry, Zahid Hussain and ret Gen Hamid Nawaz. As the documentary started, we saw, Hamid nawaz getting up and leaving.
Arshad then showed another short documentary which gave public sentiments on such trends in the military. Then came a commercial break.
After the break, the viewers saw that the program has been taken off the air. Instead Dawn started airing a completely different and old episode of Reporter. Clearly, the live program was censored. And clearly, from the top military brass.
What does the military have to hide that needed this censoring? Any comments from anyone knowledgeable?
I truly fear for the life of the brave journalist who had prepared the documentary.
Courtesy: → LUBP
via → LIC blog
– Body of former ISI official found in North Waziristan
PESHAWAR: The body of former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) official Colonel (retired) Imam was found in the Dandi Darpakhel area of Miranshah, officials said on Sunday.
Colonel Sultan Amir Tarar aka known as Colonel Imam was kidnapped with former ISI official Khalid Khwaja and British Journalist Asad Qureshi from Miranshah in March 2010, where they were going to shoot a documentary on the Taliban. Imam had reportedly been kidnapped by the Asian Tigers and had later been handed over to militants from Haqqani network. …
Read more : The Express Tribune
The documentary shows several ghost village schools in Mirpur Mathelo, Dadu, Obaro, and Badin, where the school buildings that are serving other purposes and for education. It is said there are now 5,000 such ghost schools. These schools exist on paper only as supposedly all teachers and other staff are receiving their salaries; the repair budget is being regularly spent in maintaining buildings; and students are being shown to be receiving education. But, in fact, no student is receiving any education at such schools.
The irony is that some of the schools reviewed in documentary are said to be in the villages where once families of many current and past ministers lived. The documentary mentions a school in the village of Pir Illahi Bux, who is the grandfather of current Sindh education Minister that has been closed for last nine yeas. A school village in the village of former Minister converted to a warehouse, and yet another school in the arae is in personal use of a wadera (feudal).
We have just become helpless bystanders watching this tragedy that unfolds in front of our eyes. Something has to be done, something must be done before generations of Sindhi boys and girls go without education. – (Khalid Hashmani, McLean, Virginia)
Courtesy: GEO
Source – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCmREbwNN6s&feature=player_embedded
via – http://www.siasat.pk/forum/showthread.php?35015-Ghost-Schools-In-Sindh
A Sindhi attorney in Los Angeles is currently working on a small documentary through the Sindhi Association of Southern California which is to be presented at a Sindhi Sammelan/ conference this July in Los Angeles, and potentially posted online. She is interested in using pictures of Sindhi singers, Sindhi art, and Sindhi historical monuments.
The documentary will be an interview of 5-10 elder Sindhis who left Sindh as refugees during the 1947 partition. The idea is to document their journey and recognize their ability to re build their lives and retain their culture. This movie will be made only to document their lives for younger generations to have a glimpse of how Sindhi culture survives in their lives. (this is strictly a non profit- educational and cultural video).
April 10, 2009
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