Bhutto: You cant murder a legacy
I watched this documentary...
BHUTTO is the definitive documentary that chronicles the life of one of the most complex and fascinating characters of our time. Hers is an epic tale of Shakespearean dimension. It’s the story of the first woman in history to lead a Muslim nation: Pakistan. Newsweek called it the most dangerous place in the world, and the home of nuclear war heads and the Taliban.
Benazir Bhutto was born into a wealthy landowning family that became Pakistan’s dominant political dynasty. Often referred to as the “Kennedys of Pakistan,” the Bhuttos share a painful history of triumph and tragedy, played out on an international stage.
Educated at Harvard and Oxford, and with an eye on a foreign service career, Benazir’s life changed forever when her father, Pakistan’s first democratically elected president, chose Benazir to carry his political mantle over the family’s eldest son. In the late 70’s, when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown and executed by his handpicked Army Chief, Benazir swore to avenge her father and restore democracy — or to die trying.
Benazir Bhutto may have broken the Islamic glass ceiling, but she was wed in a traditional arranged marriage to then-Karachi playboy Asif Ali Zardari. Her two terms in power saw acts of courage and controversy as she eradicated polio and stood up for women, while fighting the male-dominated political elite, and a nervous military leadership, while battling accusations of corruption and scandal.
In 2007, with the South Asian country rolling in turmoil and under the thumb of yet another military dictator, Benazir was called back onto the world stage as Pakistan’s best hope for democracy. With her assassination she transcended politics, but left a legacy of simmering controversy and undeniable courage that will be debated for years.
Bhutto: You cant murder a legacy
I watched this documentary last week at a screening hosted by WHYY and a short discussion with Trudy Rubin (Philadelphia inquirier who was scheduled to interview Benazir day she was assasinated) that followed the viewing.
I would recommend the documentary to all, but I must forewarn you that it is dangeroulsy one sided. It’s narrated mostly by Benazir herself and has the most amazing archival vintage footage.
A definite must see, Indpenedent lens (PBS) airs this on May 10th.
Here are links to well written reviews of the film (that i obviously agree with):
A one-sided film about Benazir Bhutto
Bhutto: Benazir’s legacy is ill-served by bias in an otherwise admirable film
=================
>via: http://katebomz.tumblr.com/post/4690826359/bhutto-you-cant-murder-a-legacy-i-...
__________________________
Invited to a showing of the new documentary, `Bhutto`, at BAFTA (the British Academy for Film and Television Arts) by my friend Robbie Delmaestro, I was happy to make the journey from Devizes to London for the event. Robbie is a member of the Academy, having been nominated for its prestigious annual award for directing many episodes of the popular TV series, The Bill.
The documentary has gathered a lot of archival material that has never before been screened. Many of Benazir Bhutto`s speeches and conversations have been retrieved, casting fresh light on the charismatic figure and her turbulent life.
Director Duane Baughman has woven the historical video and audio clips with interviews with many figures who either knew Benazir Bhutto, or offered their analyses of her life and times. The result is a film of considerable power and relevance.
For Pakistani audiences, there is probably little that is unexpected or new, except for some footage that has been retrieved from various archives. However, Western viewers unfamiliar with the drama and the tragedy that seems deeply embedded in the Bhutto DNA, can learn a lot about a divisive political dynasty as well as a deeply troubled era in an unstable country.
The film opens with a sequence showing BB`s return from years of exile to Pakistan on Oct 18, 2007. Many of us saw the lethal suicide attacks that nearly succeeded in assassinating the former prime minister and slew around 150 of her supporters, wounding hundreds of others.
But to watch the episode again was to refresh the question so many asked at the time why was she not provided with far more security, given the many threats she faced? When asked this question in the film, then president Pervez Musharraf callously responds “She was given more security than was her due”, or words to this effect. This contrasts starkly with the findings of the UN commission that investigated the crime. According to its report, her security was woefully inadequate, and the investigation that followed was unprofessional to the point of being a cover-up.
The story then goes back to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto`s rise and fall. His judicial murder propels his daughter Benazir into the eye of the storm imprisoned and isolated, she finally escapes into exile from Zial-ul-Haq`s harsh dictatorship. Then her dramatic return in 1986 to an adoring Pakistan, and after Zia`s departure due to a fortuitous plane crash, she is elected in 1988, only to have her tenure cut short after a disastrous 20 months during which she was in office, but not in power.
As I said earlier, this is a story every Pakistani is familiar with, but even then, when the end comes on that fateful day in December, it has all the elements of a Greek tragedy. Writing in Maclean`s, Brian D. Johnson has this take on the film“Imagine what Shakespeare could have done with Benazir Bhutto. In his world, her story might go something like this. A beloved king breaks tradition and decides his eldest child, not his eldest son, can inherit his throne. She is brilliant and beautiful. The king is toppled by a cruel despot, and hanged. His daughter is imprisoned. Her younger brother is found dead, presumed poisoned. She comes out of exile to win the hearts of her people and becomes their queen.
“The older bother rebels against her rule and is killed. His daughter accuses the queen and her husband of plotting his murder. The queen loses her throne. Her husband is jailed. And after eight years of exile in a desert kingdom, she comes home to vie for the throne, and is assassinated.”
There is no question that Benazir Bhutto`s life and death carries deep resonance in the West where she is viewed as a brave, modern woman who broke the barriers of tradition and gender to become the Muslim world`s first woman prime minister. And despite her deep belief in her faith, she moved easily between the two worlds, assuring her global audience that reconciliation was possible between the Islamic and Judeo-Christian civilisations.
Among the audience at the BAFTA auditorium were members of the Bhutto family, as well as a number of her friends. In scenes showing the violent deaths of her father, her brothers and her sister, Sanam Bhutto sobbed quietly in the seat ahead of mine. I can only imagine the effect of the movie on young Bilawal, who was in the front row.
In the discussion that followed the documentary, Mark Siegel was present in his capacity of producer, while Duane Baughman was there as the director. I found it odd that Baughman is far better known as a Democratic Party member than a film-maker he was a senior member of Hillary Clinton`s election campaign team.
I have known Mark Siegel for 20 years, and apart from being a Washington lobbyist, he has been a close and devoted friend of Benazir Bhutto. Given his association with the project, it is hardly surprising that there should be so little critical evaluation of the subject of the film.
Although there were brief clips of Fatima Bhutto who expressed her old, totally unfounded accusations against her aunt and Asif Zardari of being behind her father Murtaza`s murder, and John Burns of the New York Times on his investigative report of corruption allegations against BB and Zardari, these short critical interjections were glossed over.
I left the auditorium deeply moved. But while I liked and respected Benazir Bhutto as a human being, I retain enough of a sense of scepticism and objectivity to have seen her flaws. For this reason, I found the film oddly unsatisfying. It was Robbie who put his finger on the central problem. He said he had never seen such an openly one-sided exercise in propaganda. In fact, the film was almost hagiographic in its adulation of its subject.
The account of Benazir Bhutto being a modern democrat while retaining her traditional Muslim values smacked heavily of an official line. While she was all these things, there were many other aspects of her personality that should have been explored.
Certainly the allegations of corruption that dogged much of her life after being elected in 1988 needed to have been thoroughly discussed. The reality is that Zardari`s nickname of Mr 10% has stuck to him, even though no allegation has been proved in any court. Nonetheless, this is hardly something a serious film can so easily overlook. I understand that in its release in Pakistan, even these brief critical clips have been removed, making the film even less balanced.
This is a great pity as Benazir Bhutto deserved better than a propaganda film to remember her by.
__________________________
Bhutto: Benazir's legacy is ill-served by bias in an otherwise admirable film
A documentary about Benazir Bhutto, which premiered in London last night, makes for gripping but troublingly partial viewing
Compellingly emotive … a still from Bhutto
"Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Executed, 1979. Shahnawaz Bhutto: Murdered, 1985. Mir Murtaza Bhutto: Assassinated, 1996. Benazir Bhutto: Assassinated, 2007."
- Bhutto
-
Production year: 2010
-
Country: Rest of the world
-
Runtime: 115 mins
-
Directors: Johnny O'Hara
-
Cast: Benazir Bhutto, Diana Aveni, Fatima Bhutto, Tariq Ali
- More on this film
This chilling roll call, which appears on the front cover of Fatima Bhutto's politicial memoir,Songs of Blood and Sword, reads like a trailer for a Hollywood thriller – so incredulous, that it couldn't possibly be true. But you can't make this stuff up.
Murder, corruption, assassination, exile and family feuds: if ever there was a political story that makes for superbly gripping viewing, it's definitely the Bhutto story. And now it's finally been translated to screen in Bhutto, adocumentary film put together by an American political-consultant-turned director and production team.
At a time when both Pakistan's flood calamity and precarious politics dominate the global media landscape, Bhutto provides a condensed and comprehensive glimpse into the complexities of a nation with a chequered, chaotic history which the West has for so long struggled to understand. But even more rare, it gives a personal, detailed insight into the public and private life of one woman and her family's political and personal legacy.
It's certainly easier to comprehend the Bhutto story by watching it than reading about it (Fatima Bhutto's book is no light read). The film, which screened last night as part of the Indian Film Festival of London, has been painstakingly compiled from hours of interviews with Benazir Bhutto's friends, family and rivals and rare archived footage that makes you feel like you're witnessing history as it happens. There are commentaries from her husband, children, niece Fatima and also her sister, the only one of Benazir's siblings not to have been killed (a surreal accomplishment, if you can call it that). Political insights are provided by top journalists, including Tariq Ali and Reza Aslan; even Condoleeza Rice, and former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf make appearances. Eerily, most of the narrative comes from Benazir herself, her voice telling the story of her own doomed fate.
As far as a history lesson goes, it's very neat; anyone who's struggled with keeping up to speed with the many twists and turns of Pakistani politics will appreciate the chronological development which captures the pivotal turning points (clashes with India, Zulfikar's rise to power and subsequent downfall, the General Zia years, Benazir's first term as prime minister, Nawaz Sharif – and so on) that ultimately come to explain how President Zardari got to where he is today.
But it's hard to ignore the very obvious fact that this is one history lesson which is far from objective; put simply, the film is very pro-Bhutto and very pro-Zardari. After all, every thriller needs good guys and bad guys; here, the Bhuttos are the goodies (well, all but Murtaza, who is cast as temperamental jealous sibling), and the army generals the baddies.
For every one anti-Bhutto sentiment that Benazir's critical niece Fatima (Murtaza's daughter) utters, there are at least two pro-Bhutto comebacks; suffice to say, Fatima doesn't appear on screen all that much.
Meanwhile, Zardari in particular is cast in a disturbingly angelic light. The film paints a picture of a doting father and supportive husband (we learn how he wooed Benazir with chocolates), cruelly separated from his family and unfairly thrown in jail as a victim of the press and his wife's political opponents.
Mark Siegel, a close friend of Benazir's who appears frequently in the film (he helped write her autobiography and also happened to be one of the documentary's producers), also shrugs off Zardari's infamous "Mr 10%" nickname as nothing more than unfounded media victimisation (this bit particularly had some audience members shifting uncomfortably in their seats).
It doesn't take a genius to tell that Zardari, who banned the Pakistan press from screening any footage of the shoe-throwing scene earlier this month, has been somewhat airbrushed to perfection in this particular film. Naturally, this footage is something he wants to be seen – top politicians were invited to the Islamabad premiere held two months ago.
As a film about Benazir's life and family legacy, Bhutto is compellingly emotive. It's hard not to be touched by watching her young daughters, sitting side by side, talk about the last time they saw their mother, or indeed by hearing Benazir's voice crack as she herself talks of the last time she saw her father before he was hung, or how she found her younger brother, Shahnawaz, dead. As a portrait of a daughter, a mother, a sister and a wife, it's certainly quite a moving tribute.
But as a documentary film, should it be so blatantly one-sided? While to call it propaganda, as this Pakistani columnist did, might be taking it too far, it is nevertheless unashamedly biased. Perhaps that's only to be expected of a film called Bhutto made by and featuring Benazir's friends.
Either way, as anti-Zardari sentiment continues to grow, this film is sure to spark yet more Pakistani controversy – but it would be disappointing to let his presence shadow the fact the film ultimately tells a remarkable story of one woman's rise to power in an Islamic country; something that's never been done since.
>via: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/aug/27/benazir-bhutto-film
BHUTTO is the definitive documentary that chronicles the life of one of the most complex and fascinating characters of our time. Hers is an epic tale of Shakespearean dimension. It’s the story of the first woman in history to lead a Muslim nation: Pakistan. Newsweek called it the most dangerous place in the world, and the home of nuclear war heads and the Taliban.
Benazir Bhutto was born into a wealthy landowning family that became Pakistan’s dominant political dynasty. Often referred to as the “Kennedys of Pakistan,” the Bhuttos share a painful history of triumph and tragedy, played out on an international stage.
Educated at Harvard and Oxford, and with an eye on a foreign service career, Benazir’s life changed forever when her father, Pakistan’s first democratically elected president, chose Benazir to carry his political mantle over the family’s eldest son. In the late 70’s, when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown and executed by his handpicked Army Chief, Benazir swore to avenge her father and restore democracy — or to die trying.
Benazir Bhutto may have broken the Islamic glass ceiling, but she was wed in a traditional arranged marriage to then-Karachi playboy Asif Ali Zardari. Her two terms in power saw acts of courage and controversy as she eradicated polio and stood up for women, while fighting the male-dominated political elite, and a nervous military leadership, while battling accusations of corruption and scandal.
In 2007, with the South Asian country rolling in turmoil and under the thumb of yet another military dictator, Benazir was called back onto the world stage as Pakistan’s best hope for democracy. With her assassination she transcended politics, but left a legacy of simmering controversy and undeniable courage that will be debated for years.
Bhutto: You cant murder a legacy
I watched this documentary last week at a screening hosted by WHYY and a short discussion with Trudy Rubin (Philadelphia inquirier who was scheduled to interview Benazir day she was assasinated) that followed the viewing.
I would recommend the documentary to all, but I must forewarn you that it is dangeroulsy one sided. It’s narrated mostly by Benazir herself and has the most amazing archival vintage footage.
A definite must see, Indpenedent lens (PBS) airs this on May 10th.
Here are links to well written reviews of the film (that i obviously agree with):
A one-sided film about Benazir Bhutto
Bhutto: Benazir’s legacy is ill-served by bias in an otherwise admirable film
=================
>via: http://katebomz.tumblr.com/post/4690826359/bhutto-you-cant-murder-a-legacy-i-...
__________________________
Invited to a showing of the new documentary, `Bhutto`, at BAFTA (the British Academy for Film and Television Arts) by my friend Robbie Delmaestro, I was happy to make the journey from Devizes to London for the event. Robbie is a member of the Academy, having been nominated for its prestigious annual award for directing many episodes of the popular TV series, The Bill.
The documentary has gathered a lot of archival material that has never before been screened. Many of Benazir Bhutto`s speeches and conversations have been retrieved, casting fresh light on the charismatic figure and her turbulent life.
Director Duane Baughman has woven the historical video and audio clips with interviews with many figures who either knew Benazir Bhutto, or offered their analyses of her life and times. The result is a film of considerable power and relevance.
For Pakistani audiences, there is probably little that is unexpected or new, except for some footage that has been retrieved from various archives. However, Western viewers unfamiliar with the drama and the tragedy that seems deeply embedded in the Bhutto DNA, can learn a lot about a divisive political dynasty as well as a deeply troubled era in an unstable country.
The film opens with a sequence showing BB`s return from years of exile to Pakistan on Oct 18, 2007. Many of us saw the lethal suicide attacks that nearly succeeded in assassinating the former prime minister and slew around 150 of her supporters, wounding hundreds of others.
But to watch the episode again was to refresh the question so many asked at the time why was she not provided with far more security, given the many threats she faced? When asked this question in the film, then president Pervez Musharraf callously responds “She was given more security than was her due”, or words to this effect. This contrasts starkly with the findings of the UN commission that investigated the crime. According to its report, her security was woefully inadequate, and the investigation that followed was unprofessional to the point of being a cover-up.
The story then goes back to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto`s rise and fall. His judicial murder propels his daughter Benazir into the eye of the storm imprisoned and isolated, she finally escapes into exile from Zial-ul-Haq`s harsh dictatorship. Then her dramatic return in 1986 to an adoring Pakistan, and after Zia`s departure due to a fortuitous plane crash, she is elected in 1988, only to have her tenure cut short after a disastrous 20 months during which she was in office, but not in power.
As I said earlier, this is a story every Pakistani is familiar with, but even then, when the end comes on that fateful day in December, it has all the elements of a Greek tragedy. Writing in Maclean`s, Brian D. Johnson has this take on the film“Imagine what Shakespeare could have done with Benazir Bhutto. In his world, her story might go something like this. A beloved king breaks tradition and decides his eldest child, not his eldest son, can inherit his throne. She is brilliant and beautiful. The king is toppled by a cruel despot, and hanged. His daughter is imprisoned. Her younger brother is found dead, presumed poisoned. She comes out of exile to win the hearts of her people and becomes their queen.
“The older bother rebels against her rule and is killed. His daughter accuses the queen and her husband of plotting his murder. The queen loses her throne. Her husband is jailed. And after eight years of exile in a desert kingdom, she comes home to vie for the throne, and is assassinated.”
There is no question that Benazir Bhutto`s life and death carries deep resonance in the West where she is viewed as a brave, modern woman who broke the barriers of tradition and gender to become the Muslim world`s first woman prime minister. And despite her deep belief in her faith, she moved easily between the two worlds, assuring her global audience that reconciliation was possible between the Islamic and Judeo-Christian civilisations.
Among the audience at the BAFTA auditorium were members of the Bhutto family, as well as a number of her friends. In scenes showing the violent deaths of her father, her brothers and her sister, Sanam Bhutto sobbed quietly in the seat ahead of mine. I can only imagine the effect of the movie on young Bilawal, who was in the front row.
In the discussion that followed the documentary, Mark Siegel was present in his capacity of producer, while Duane Baughman was there as the director. I found it odd that Baughman is far better known as a Democratic Party member than a film-maker he was a senior member of Hillary Clinton`s election campaign team.
I have known Mark Siegel for 20 years, and apart from being a Washington lobbyist, he has been a close and devoted friend of Benazir Bhutto. Given his association with the project, it is hardly surprising that there should be so little critical evaluation of the subject of the film.
Although there were brief clips of Fatima Bhutto who expressed her old, totally unfounded accusations against her aunt and Asif Zardari of being behind her father Murtaza`s murder, and John Burns of the New York Times on his investigative report of corruption allegations against BB and Zardari, these short critical interjections were glossed over.
I left the auditorium deeply moved. But while I liked and respected Benazir Bhutto as a human being, I retain enough of a sense of scepticism and objectivity to have seen her flaws. For this reason, I found the film oddly unsatisfying. It was Robbie who put his finger on the central problem. He said he had never seen such an openly one-sided exercise in propaganda. In fact, the film was almost hagiographic in its adulation of its subject.
The account of Benazir Bhutto being a modern democrat while retaining her traditional Muslim values smacked heavily of an official line. While she was all these things, there were many other aspects of her personality that should have been explored.
Certainly the allegations of corruption that dogged much of her life after being elected in 1988 needed to have been thoroughly discussed. The reality is that Zardari`s nickname of Mr 10% has stuck to him, even though no allegation has been proved in any court. Nonetheless, this is hardly something a serious film can so easily overlook. I understand that in its release in Pakistan, even these brief critical clips have been removed, making the film even less balanced.
This is a great pity as Benazir Bhutto deserved better than a propaganda film to remember her by.
Bhutto: Benazir's legacy is ill-served by bias in an otherwise admirable film
A documentary about Benazir Bhutto, which premiered in London last night, makes for gripping but troublingly partial viewing
"Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: Executed, 1979. Shahnawaz Bhutto: Murdered, 1985. Mir Murtaza Bhutto: Assassinated, 1996. Benazir Bhutto: Assassinated, 2007."
- Bhutto
- Production year: 2010
- Country: Rest of the world
- Runtime: 115 mins
- Directors: Johnny O'Hara
- Cast: Benazir Bhutto, Diana Aveni, Fatima Bhutto, Tariq Ali
This chilling roll call, which appears on the front cover of Fatima Bhutto's politicial memoir,Songs of Blood and Sword, reads like a trailer for a Hollywood thriller – so incredulous, that it couldn't possibly be true. But you can't make this stuff up.
Murder, corruption, assassination, exile and family feuds: if ever there was a political story that makes for superbly gripping viewing, it's definitely the Bhutto story. And now it's finally been translated to screen in Bhutto, adocumentary film put together by an American political-consultant-turned director and production team.
At a time when both Pakistan's flood calamity and precarious politics dominate the global media landscape, Bhutto provides a condensed and comprehensive glimpse into the complexities of a nation with a chequered, chaotic history which the West has for so long struggled to understand. But even more rare, it gives a personal, detailed insight into the public and private life of one woman and her family's political and personal legacy.
It's certainly easier to comprehend the Bhutto story by watching it than reading about it (Fatima Bhutto's book is no light read). The film, which screened last night as part of the Indian Film Festival of London, has been painstakingly compiled from hours of interviews with Benazir Bhutto's friends, family and rivals and rare archived footage that makes you feel like you're witnessing history as it happens. There are commentaries from her husband, children, niece Fatima and also her sister, the only one of Benazir's siblings not to have been killed (a surreal accomplishment, if you can call it that). Political insights are provided by top journalists, including Tariq Ali and Reza Aslan; even Condoleeza Rice, and former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf make appearances. Eerily, most of the narrative comes from Benazir herself, her voice telling the story of her own doomed fate.
As far as a history lesson goes, it's very neat; anyone who's struggled with keeping up to speed with the many twists and turns of Pakistani politics will appreciate the chronological development which captures the pivotal turning points (clashes with India, Zulfikar's rise to power and subsequent downfall, the General Zia years, Benazir's first term as prime minister, Nawaz Sharif – and so on) that ultimately come to explain how President Zardari got to where he is today.
But it's hard to ignore the very obvious fact that this is one history lesson which is far from objective; put simply, the film is very pro-Bhutto and very pro-Zardari. After all, every thriller needs good guys and bad guys; here, the Bhuttos are the goodies (well, all but Murtaza, who is cast as temperamental jealous sibling), and the army generals the baddies.
For every one anti-Bhutto sentiment that Benazir's critical niece Fatima (Murtaza's daughter) utters, there are at least two pro-Bhutto comebacks; suffice to say, Fatima doesn't appear on screen all that much.
Meanwhile, Zardari in particular is cast in a disturbingly angelic light. The film paints a picture of a doting father and supportive husband (we learn how he wooed Benazir with chocolates), cruelly separated from his family and unfairly thrown in jail as a victim of the press and his wife's political opponents.
Mark Siegel, a close friend of Benazir's who appears frequently in the film (he helped write her autobiography and also happened to be one of the documentary's producers), also shrugs off Zardari's infamous "Mr 10%" nickname as nothing more than unfounded media victimisation (this bit particularly had some audience members shifting uncomfortably in their seats).
It doesn't take a genius to tell that Zardari, who banned the Pakistan press from screening any footage of the shoe-throwing scene earlier this month, has been somewhat airbrushed to perfection in this particular film. Naturally, this footage is something he wants to be seen – top politicians were invited to the Islamabad premiere held two months ago.
As a film about Benazir's life and family legacy, Bhutto is compellingly emotive. It's hard not to be touched by watching her young daughters, sitting side by side, talk about the last time they saw their mother, or indeed by hearing Benazir's voice crack as she herself talks of the last time she saw her father before he was hung, or how she found her younger brother, Shahnawaz, dead. As a portrait of a daughter, a mother, a sister and a wife, it's certainly quite a moving tribute.
But as a documentary film, should it be so blatantly one-sided? While to call it propaganda, as this Pakistani columnist did, might be taking it too far, it is nevertheless unashamedly biased. Perhaps that's only to be expected of a film called Bhutto made by and featuring Benazir's friends.
Either way, as anti-Zardari sentiment continues to grow, this film is sure to spark yet more Pakistani controversy – but it would be disappointing to let his presence shadow the fact the film ultimately tells a remarkable story of one woman's rise to power in an Islamic country; something that's never been done since.
>via: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/aug/27/benazir-bhutto-film