The 2010 I-View Film Festival Does Not Disappoint

The 2010 I-View Film Festival is not your typical film festival. When you are sponsored by Engendered, whose motto is "Exploring gender, sexuality, ritual & religion in South Asia," you can be sure that some heavy topics are going to be covered.

The festival opened last weekend to critical acclaim, so I knew that as a film buff it would be essential that I checked out some of the films on the schedule. I was fortunate enough to see a few of the films last weekend and was incredibly impressed by the organization of the festival and how moving and impressive the movies were.

On Saturday I headed over to the Asia Society to check out "Bhutto," a film based on the life of recently slain former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. I'd been enthralled with Bhutto since she became the first woman to lead a Muslim state and become Pakistan's first and only woman prime minister.

The apt comparison of Bhutto and her family being the "Kennedys of Pakistan" only added to the film's intrigue. We learn about Bhutto's wealthy upbringing including her schooling at Harvard and Oxford and how Pakistan was thrown into turmoil when Bhutto's father chose her instead of her oldest brother to take over for him.

Bhutto was an amazing woman who was burdened with the momentous task of trying to prove that she was capable as a prime minister while trying to deal with extremism, sexism and corruption.

The film does a marvelous job portraying all that she accomplished (restoring democracy, eradicating polio, and advancing the status of women in a Muslim state) and by the end I was deeply saddened that a foolish assassination had taken such a marvelous person from the world.

Directors Duane Baughman and Johnny O'Hara do a great job of chronicling such a detailed and interesting life without over-glamorizing the fact that Bhutto's story is one that many would think was fiction. The story-telling can be depressing at times (what else would you expect from a documentary about a woman prime minister trying to succeed in a Muslim state?), but the true character of Bhutto shines through at the end and the viewer gets to see her for what she really is: a determined and courageous leader.

The premiere of "Bhutto" was followed by the Opening Night Feature "I Am." An interesting look at Indian culture divided up into four separate short stories, the screening featured a red carpet to welcome Bollywood's finest as the cast and crew of the movie strutted their stuff while the flashbulbs popped. All of the big names were there including Sanjay Suri and Juhi Chawla, as well as the director Onir Anirban.

I didn't make it into the movie (good luck finding a ticket) but I managed to weasel my way into the Q&A that followed and got to listen to the cast talk about what it's like being a star in Bollywood. I learned later that there had been a cocktail hour with the stars before the screening that I missed. Talk about blowing it!

All in all, day one of the I-View Film Festival was an emotional roller coaster. From the heart-wrenching tale of Benazir Bhutto to the excitement of some of India's biggest movie stars gracing us with their presence, I will definitely be headed back for another round of films!