U.S., International Filmmakers Tell Contemporary Stories

AFI Project: 20/20 film partnership is part of Global Cultural Initiative

Mukhtaran Mai's humble demeanor contrasts sharply with her accomplishments. Her gracious words of thanks to her American supporters at the American Film Institute (AFI) in a Washington suburb in late November understate this 33-year-old Pakistani woman's courageous search for justice after being gang-raped by her neighbors in a remote village in Pakistan in the summer of 2002.

In a region where rape victims often choose suicide over a life of humiliation and silence, Mai chose to live and challenge the status quo. Her compelling story prompted filmmaker Muhammad Naqvi to direct and produce Shame, a documentary about a women he considers a hero.

Such is the power of film to bring contemporary topics to the global forefront.

Naqvi's Shame was among four AFI Project: 20/20 films screened at the American Film Institute's Silver Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland, on November 20 and 21. AFI Project: 20/20 is part of the Global Cultural Initiative launched by first lady Laura Bush and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes in September in collaboration with public and private cultural organizations. (See related article.)

AFI Project: 20/20, a partnership among the U.S. Department of State, the American Film Institute, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, brought together 19 American and international filmmakers to AFI Fest film festival in Los Angeles to share their motion pictures with each other's audiences. After AFI Fest, the filmmakers traveled to cities across the United States and will be participating in international film festivals abroad to enhance cultural understanding.

The purpose of AFI Project: 20/20 is to express the shared values of different nations through film, said Julia Nelson of the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs at the U.S Department of State.

As part of the program, the filmmakers participate in lectures, workshops and screenings at universities and cultural centers around the United States in such cities as Los Angeles; Tucson, Arizona; Salt Lake City; St. Louis; Seattle; and Silver Spring, Maryland.

Some films, such as Naqvi's Shame, have not been released officially; for others, the screenings are world premieres. This was true for J.B. Rutagarama of Rwanda, who premiered his autobiographical documentary Back Home in AFI Fest in Los Angeles and then screened it in San Francisco and Salt Lake City before coming to AFI Project: 20/20.

Back Home, the first film about the Rwandan genocide made by a survivor, traces the filmmaker's journey as the son of a Tutsi mother and Hutu father during the Rwandan genocide. American director Hilary Brougher, whose film Stephanie Daley tells the story of a 16-year-old girl, played by Hollywood actress Amber Tamblyn, who is accused of killing her infant baby after concealing her pregnancy, joined Rutagarama and Naqvi at the AFI Project: 20/20 screening to talk about their films with audience members.

In response to questions about how director Naqvi was able to get members of Mai's family on film, Naqvi said it was easier to interview Mai's family than expected. Her family members viewed this film as an opportunity to finally have their voices heard, the director said.

The fourth film screened at AFI Project: 20/20, After, was made by an American, David L. Cunningham, and tells the story of adventure-seekers who descend into underground Moscow in search of two legendary sites: Stalin's secret metro and tsar Ivan the Terrible's torture chamber.

Plans are under way for the American filmmakers to travel overseas to share their films with audiences in the home countries of the international filmmakers as part of the Global Cultural Initiative.

Additional information about AFI Project 20/20 and the participating filmmakers is available on the AFI Web site.

Source: U.S. Department of State

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