Mon, Jan 21st, 10am
Tues, Jan 24th, 8:30pm

Frontrunner tells the story of this Dr. Massounda Jalal, an Afghani medical doctor and mother of three, who ran for the Presidency of Afghanistan. As a children's advocate, she defied the murderous Taliban regime, and amidst death threats and bomb attacks, continues to work for progressive political policy in the troubled state.

Where were you and how did you react when you were told you'd been accepted to Slamdance?

Strangely enough, I was in Hawaii where I was screening the work-in-progress of the film at 'Girlfest' in Honolulu. I was thrilled to be accepted to Slamdance, as I knew this would likely be our World Premiere, and to be in the hands of accomplished fellow-filmmakers is a real honor.

What initially interested you Massouda Jalal? When did you first learn about her?

I traveled to Afghanistan in June 2002 to scout a film about Afghan women's rights activists, and they were holding an Emergency Election Caucus to elect a transitional president. 6 months after the fall of the Taliban and this one woman stood up and nominated herself---one of just two people, man or woman who had the courage to do that. She wasn't allowed to walk down the street without a burka a few months prior. At that point my camera made a quick swish pan in her direction and didn't move for 4 years.

How did you find financing for the project?

Ah financing. The bane of every indie filmmaker's existence. Initially I got a small research grant from ITVS to do the scout, then the MacArthur Foundation came through with big enough chunk to get me through the first shoot. We also got some money from the Tides Foundation and Afghan Women Leaders Connect. For whatever reason I couldn't raise any $ for the actual election shoot, and I know I wouldn't have a film if I didn't shoot it, so Bank of America (loan) and my own $ ended up pulling me through the last one. We basically made a 500K film for $175, so I'm hoping to recoup some of that obviously. We got to Slamdance on fumes!

I produce documentaries and series for cable television and it's ridiculous how EASY it is to get a couple hundred thou to make a doc that's going to be shown a couple times and do virtually nothing for the good of society. It just shouldn't be so hard in my opinion-- I think the US could learn a lot from the Danes, Canadians and Aussies as far as how to provide real money for filmmakers. Stepping down from the soapbox now...

Has the political situation improved or regressed because of American involvement in Afghanistan?

I think initially the political situation improved, there was a real sense of hope you sensed from the Afghan people once the Taliban were initially run out. Unfortunately all the money that was promised for reconstruction was not delivered, and Afghans were left holding the ball, deflated and useless. Now the resurgence of the Taliban and other extremists groups threaten peace and security, and human rights abuses are on the increase. Given the fate of Benizar Bhutto it makes me very fearful for Massouda if she decides to run again next year.

In your research and hunt for archival footage, which sources were most helpful?
I made friends with the archival arm of the new orgs, as some of the footage was not that easy to find online and they had to help me. CNN and ABC Video Source I think had most of what we needed, most of it from the first election in 2002 that I was unable to shoot a lot of.

Has Dr. Jalal seen the film? If so, how did she react. If not, are their plans to screen it for her?

It was important to me that Massouda see the film before the premiere, and I sent it to her over a month ago. Unfortunately I think it's held up with the "content police" so I may have to get it to her another way. She has been nothing but supportive of us in making this film, and fearless in her desire to get her message of tolerance out to the Afghan people. Given her consent, we'll premiere the film in Afghanistan after our international premiere, then show it via mobile cinemas to Afghans all over the country. She'll come to the the US in February for the East Coast premiere of FRONTRUNNER at the Miami International Film Festival.

What were your biggest challenges when constructing the film in post-production?

The biggest challenge was to construct a cinema verité film out from over 200 hours of footage, in three different languages. Sometimes it was like opening a present when you got the stuff translated--'so that's what they were saying,' kinda thing. Getting the film to have a real narrative feel, constructed from scenes rather than soundbites was something that our story consultant, Fernanda Rossi, helped us with immensely. I also had a great editor, Steve Armstrong, who tackled every scene like it was his last. Diana Logreira, our final editor, spit-polished the result. I keep saying the next film will be local, a short, and in English.

Any other projects in the pipeline?

We're investigating developing a fictional feature of Massouda's life. There are many dramatic events that couldn't be told in our film, from her days working as a medical doctor during the Taliban to her run for president. In the 'new media' realm, I'm developing an online leadership toolkit for girls called "Be a Frontrunner!" It's sort of "Myspace with a conscience," where girls can go and create and contribute media for social causes. (www.womenrule.tv) We need VC money for that though. I'm hoping it will be easier than raising money for a film!

# posted by Brandon Harris @ 1/19/2008 11:35:00 AM

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