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"blending activism and filmmaking"
anand
patwardhan

 

 

 


Voices of Dissent


NoorKhan S. Bawa

1999. 22min. Pakistan.

Original Language:
ENGLISH, URDU

The film takes viewers on a journey through the gates of a Sufi shrine into the world of dancing. It explores the passion of the dance within a number of contemporary Pakistani contexts and the personalities that pursue it: a classically trained kathak dancer who, as a woman, has been forbidden by the Pakistani government to perform her craft on stage; a male kathak dancer ridiculed for pursuing a traditionally female dance form; a popular film actress who embodies the commercialization of what was once a sacred, devotional, or courtly act and whose performances place training and skill secondary to glamour; a mullah speaking for the fundamentalist position that views women's dance as a corrupting activity.

About the Director ...

NoorKhan S. Bawa is a graduate in International Development Studies from the University of Toronto. He is also a graduate in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson Polytechnic University. He has worked in "development" in Costa Rica, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

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