AFI Dallas International Film Festival - ‘Dinner with the President: A Nation’s Journey’

(Pakistan, 2007, 82 mins)
In Urdu with English subtitles

Directed By: Sabiha Sumar, Sachithanandam Sathananthan

Are dictatorship and democracy mutually exclusive? In a country with cultures as ancient and complex as Pakistan’s, the answer to what the future holds is not straightforward. Head of an emerging secular democracy amidst neighboring Islamic theocracies, President Pervez Musharraf has long been seen as a key United States ally in the region--a reputation that does not always serve him well in Pakistan.

Pakistani filmmakers Sabiha Sumar and Satha Sathananthan request a dinner with their country’s leader, and to their surprise, the request is granted. The family dinner with Musharraf and his mother forms the backdrop to a journey through contemporary Pakistan as the filmmakers forego the headlines and search the country for deeper answers.

They reveal a country where ethnic and tribal loyalties struggle against modernization, and religious Islamic forces threaten to make Pakistan a theocracy. In the crosshairs of change sits the president himself, whose ties to the military and modernization efforts in Pakistan have made him a lightning rod.

Information from the AFI website