AZMAISH: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SUBCONTINENT

Pakistani filmmaker Sabiha Sumar's inspiring and probing documentary explores the complex relationship between India and her native country. Traveling the two nations, Sumar and Indian actress Kalki Koechlin witness radically changing political landscapes, their encounters giving rise to a personal and poetic search to uncover the voices of the silent majority, particularly those of women.

At home, Sumar has candid interviews with Pakistanis from different classes and regions, conversations where she is often the lone woman at the table. In India, Sumar and Koechlin speak with political figures and ordinary people, examining the rise of Hindu fundamentalism. As they despair at the decline of secular thought and the narrowing of expression they see in both nations, they also uncover the shared humanity beyond the divisive political rhetoric.

As nationalism surges in the U.S. and around the globe,  AZMAISH  is a valuable tool for sparking classroom conversations about intolerance, and also serves as an excellent primer for Americans on the India/Pakistan conflict from a woman's perspective.

" An inspiring and stunning transnational journey through India and Pakistan ." 
- Cameron Bailey, TIFF

" Sumar admirably covers all her bases while tackling the Indo-Pakistani divide in all its complexity." - POV MAGAZINE
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A TIMELY RE-RELEASE OF SUMAR'S EARLIER WORK
DINNER WITH THE PRESIDENT

When Pakistani filmmaker Sabiha Sumar and co-director Sachithanandam Sathananthan request a dinner with President Musharraf as he's facing impeachment charges in 2007, to their surprise the request is granted. They engage him in an enlightening discussion about the past and his vision for the country. Going beyond the dinner table, the filmmakers interview a wide range of Pakistanis, revealing a nation full of contradictions.

"Confident and cool-headed, Ms. Sumar is a dynamic screen presence." 
- THE NEW YORK TIMES
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Sabiha Sumar was born in Karachi and studied at Sarah Lawrence College and Cambridge University. Her first feature, SILENT WATERS, won the Golden Leopard award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2003. Her first documentary, WHO WILL CAST THE FIRST STONE, won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival in 1998 and led to the quashing of death-by-stoning sentence for Shahida Parveen. Sumar's other documentaries include DON'T ASK WHY (1999), FOR A PLACE UNDER THE HEAVENS (2003), ON THE ROOFS OF DELHI (2007) and DINNER WITH THE PRESIDENT (2007).
About WMM:
From cutting-edge documentaries that give depth to today's headlines to smart, stunning films that push artistic and intellectual boundaries in all genres, Women Make Movies (WMM), a non-profit feminist social enterprise based in New York, is the world's leading distributor of independent films by and about women. Our Production Assistance Program assists women directors with their productions from concept through completion with fiscal sponsorship, consultations and other technical assistance. We work with creative, ground-breaking films which win awards at festivals around the world. Films and filmmakers we have supported have been nominated for or won Academy® Awards in 12 of the past 13 years.