Finding order in chaos
Human Rights Day marked with screening of Huner Saleem’s ‘My Sweet Pepper Land’
The setting of the film is very Westernesque with impassive comic moments punctuating the runtime. PHOTOS: PUBLICITY
KARACHI:
Iraqi film-maker Huner Saleem’s 2013 film, My Sweet Pepper Land, narrates the story of a police officer Baran and schoolteacher Govend who juggle the cauldron of individual and collective choices in the hostile frontiers of Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan. The setting of the film is very Westernesque and chaos remains a mainstay, with impassive comic moments punctuating the runtime.
The film was screened at Alliance Française de Karachi to mark the International Human Rights Day on Thursday. The screening, put together in collaboration with Goethe-Institut, was followed by a discussion on the film’s aesthetics. The French and German institutions have joined hands with the United Nations to project films on human rights in the major cities of the country as part of the Human Rights through Cinematography initiative.
Baran (Korkmaz Arslan) is stationed is a valley that lies on the borders of Iran, Iraq and Turkey — lawless territory rampant with medicine, drug and alcohol smuggling. On the other hand, Govend (Golshifteh Farahani) is an unmarried 28-year-old girl who teaches at a nearby school. Tribal chief Agha Aziz stands between their relationship and the film ensues in a conflict between the two sides, with female Kurdish fighters lending a hand to the couple.
As part of the panel that discussed the film, writer Bina Shah underscored the two opposite ends of the struggle for women’s rights portrayed in the film – one through the pen and the other through arms. “The characters of women [freedom fighters] were more interesting. They overturned this stereotype we have that women are more peaceful than men. These were women who fight and kill.” Shah was joined by veteran journalist and writer Ghazi Salahuddin, Dr Framji Minwalla from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi and Dr Markus Heidingsfelder from Habib University. Moderating the session, Goethe-Institut Director Stefan Winkler raised a pertinent question about the tribesmen, “Is it the school or the single woman that they don’t want?”
Talking on the occasion, Salahuddin said, “It is made by Hiner Saleem, who is a Kurd and believes in Kurdish freedom. This is the [same] region where [Islamic State] IS is functioning and the Kurds are on the forefront of the resistance against them.” He differed from Shah and stated that law and order is a more dominant theme of the film then women’s rights. He drew parallels between the conditions of Pakistan and Afghanistan’s lawless frontiers and the areas shown in the film.
On the other hand, Minwalla said the film was quite straightforward with little ambiguities or psychological nuances. He pointed towards the failure of institutions – medical, educational and law enforcement – in the society shown in the film, causing human rights violations. According to the professor, Baran thought of himself as a soldier instead of a policeman. “Every time he intends to actually operate as a policeman, the situation thwarts his ability to do that.”
Commenting on the film’s cinematography, Heidingsfelder liked what he called “the raw character of the camera”.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2015.
Iraqi film-maker Huner Saleem’s 2013 film, My Sweet Pepper Land, narrates the story of a police officer Baran and schoolteacher Govend who juggle the cauldron of individual and collective choices in the hostile frontiers of Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan. The setting of the film is very Westernesque and chaos remains a mainstay, with impassive comic moments punctuating the runtime.
The film was screened at Alliance Française de Karachi to mark the International Human Rights Day on Thursday. The screening, put together in collaboration with Goethe-Institut, was followed by a discussion on the film’s aesthetics. The French and German institutions have joined hands with the United Nations to project films on human rights in the major cities of the country as part of the Human Rights through Cinematography initiative.
Baran (Korkmaz Arslan) is stationed is a valley that lies on the borders of Iran, Iraq and Turkey — lawless territory rampant with medicine, drug and alcohol smuggling. On the other hand, Govend (Golshifteh Farahani) is an unmarried 28-year-old girl who teaches at a nearby school. Tribal chief Agha Aziz stands between their relationship and the film ensues in a conflict between the two sides, with female Kurdish fighters lending a hand to the couple.
As part of the panel that discussed the film, writer Bina Shah underscored the two opposite ends of the struggle for women’s rights portrayed in the film – one through the pen and the other through arms. “The characters of women [freedom fighters] were more interesting. They overturned this stereotype we have that women are more peaceful than men. These were women who fight and kill.” Shah was joined by veteran journalist and writer Ghazi Salahuddin, Dr Framji Minwalla from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi and Dr Markus Heidingsfelder from Habib University. Moderating the session, Goethe-Institut Director Stefan Winkler raised a pertinent question about the tribesmen, “Is it the school or the single woman that they don’t want?”
Talking on the occasion, Salahuddin said, “It is made by Hiner Saleem, who is a Kurd and believes in Kurdish freedom. This is the [same] region where [Islamic State] IS is functioning and the Kurds are on the forefront of the resistance against them.” He differed from Shah and stated that law and order is a more dominant theme of the film then women’s rights. He drew parallels between the conditions of Pakistan and Afghanistan’s lawless frontiers and the areas shown in the film.
On the other hand, Minwalla said the film was quite straightforward with little ambiguities or psychological nuances. He pointed towards the failure of institutions – medical, educational and law enforcement – in the society shown in the film, causing human rights violations. According to the professor, Baran thought of himself as a soldier instead of a policeman. “Every time he intends to actually operate as a policeman, the situation thwarts his ability to do that.”
Commenting on the film’s cinematography, Heidingsfelder liked what he called “the raw character of the camera”.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2015.