After film on Bosnia war, Actress Jolie plans film on Afghanistan

BERLIN: Angelina Jolie says it was only natural that her directorial debut should tackle some of the toughest issues facing humanity and after wartime Bosnia, Afghanistan is likely to be her next subject.

At the Berlin film festival to present her unflinching drama about rape as a weapon of war, “In the Land of Blood and Honey”, the Hollywood icon-cum-humanitarian told AFP her turn behind the camera was aimed at using cinema as a force for reconciliation.

“I’ve written a lot of journals while travelling over 10 years in the conflicts around the world and being frustrated by the lack of intervention,” said the 36-year-old Oscar-winning actress.

“So I went to the region and started to really look at the Bosnian war, but I couldn’t really understand or figure it out, and I felt this is my generation this happened to so I should know this. So I gave myself some education.”

Jolie, who backs a range of causes as a UN goodwill ambassador, said her research inspired her to start writing a screenplay and her partner Brad Pitt encouraged her to show a rough draft to people from all sides of the brutal 1992-1995 war.

But when it came to making the film, she realised she was the only one with both the objective distance and passionate commitment to do the job.

“And this is how I found myself being a director!” she said.

“I knew that there might have been people who were technically more capable than me, but I knew I really, really cared from the bottom of my heart so therefore I felt I should do it.”

She filmed versions of the movie in local languages and English in parallel.

It tells the story of a young Muslim woman and the policeman son of a Bosnian Serb general who had a fling before the conflict broke out.

When they meet again, she has been taken prisoner by a unit of the Bosnian Serb army commanded by her former lover.

As the women around her are gang raped, the officer offers her protection, telling the other soldiers she is his “property”. But the upheaval of the relentless war means he is only able to shield her for so long.

Jolie said the most difficult part of filming was asking her actors, almost all of whom come from the former Yugoslavia and had their own bitter memories of the war, to simulate the savagery that tore their country apart.

“It was very hard for everybody, for the actors, the men who had to be the aggressors,” said Jolie, who is in the German capital with Pitt and their six children.

“They were fathers, husbands and very sweet men and they didn’t want to do that. But they knew also they had to do it on behalf of the women just to show the brutality they suffered.”

She said the hardest scene to shoot was one in which elderly women were ordered to undress at gunpoint while soldiers look on and laugh – an experience recounted to her by a prison camp survivor.

“This is one that you just never want to ask anybody to do and you are asking real older women to do this,” she said.

“The whole crew was very uncomfortable but the women were so sweet and so professional. I came to them several times asking, ‘Are you really OK, are you sure?’”

She said she hoped Serbs would see the film with open minds when it is screened in wide release this month.

“I went to Auschwitz recently and so many names are Serb names all along the walls because they fought against the Nazis .. and later they were to be the aggressors,” she said.

“I think it’s important to study (genocides) and to understand them so we will really understand how to stop them.”

Bosnia’s war between its Croat, Muslim and Serb communities claimed some 100,000 lives. Tens of thousands of people were held in prison camps, where torture and abuse were commonplace. Some 20,000 women were raped, according to the government’s estimates.

Asked what’s next, Jolie said she would keep her focus on the world’s trouble spots.

“I have been working on something that deals with Afghanistan but I haven’t shown it yet to anybody,” she said. AGENCIES

Women were only 5 percent of directors in 2011

LOS ANGELES: Women remained vastly underrepresented behind the camera in the movie business in 2011, a study to be released Tuesday shows.

Last year, women comprised 18 percent of directors, executive producers, writers, cinematographers and editors working on the 250 top-grossing domestic films, according to “The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 250 Films of 2011.”

The study, by Martha M. Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, shows that 38 percent of the top 250 films employed either no women or only one as director, executive producer, producer, writer, cinematographer or editor.

That’s an increase of 2 percent over 2010, but still a dismal number, Lauzen told TheWrap.

“Women accounted for just 5 percent of directors last year,” Lauzen said. “At one point back in 1998, we were up to 9 percent, and so 5 percent — that’s almost half of the percentage, and that .. is really troubling.”

She explained that the percentage of women in high-ranking behind-the-camera movie jobs has hovered between 16 percent and 19 percent since she started her annual study in 1997.

“This impoverishes our culture,” she said. “We have a huge gap between the demographic profile of the group that is creating our culture” and the culture in general. Women make up roughly 51 percent of the U.S. population.

Lauzen’s study analyzed 2,636 people working on the 250 top-grossing films of 2011.

It found:

* The percentage of women directors has declined since 1998 while the percentages of women writers and producers have increased slightly. The percentage of women executive producers, editors and cinematographers has remained the same.

* 94 percent of the top films of 2011 were directed by men.

* Women made up 14 percent of writers in the top films.

* 77 percent of the major films of 2011 had no female writers.

* Women made up 25 percent of all producers on the top 250 films of 2011.

* Women made up 20 percent of editors in the biggest films of 2011, but 76 percent of those films had no female editors.

* There were fewer female cinematographers than directors on the top films of 2011: only 4 percent of cinematographers were women.

* Women were most likely to work in documentaries, dramas and comedies and least likely to work in horror, action and animated films.

Lauzen said that in 2010, when Kathryn Bigelow won the Academy Award for directing “The Hurt Locker,” “there were a lot of people saying, ‘Gosh, there is going to be this ‘Bigelow Effect.’ Her win will change peoples’ ideas or notions or stereotypes about women who direct, and this is a watershed moment.’”

That didn’t happen.

Lauzen said that “if women in film schools see that there aren’t many women directing out there, they may choose not to pursue that as a career option.”

And movies suffer, she said.

Lauzen said that the lack of women as directors is a problem for the industry — but it’s a problem few people acknowledge.

“How many people in the community view women’s really dramatic underrepresentation in the film business as a problem?” she asked. “In order to fix something, you have to perceive it as broken. If those in the community do not perceive this as a problem, then it will never be addressed.” AGENCIES

Omar Abdullah apologises for rape victime list

Indian-held Kashmir s chief minister apologized Friday after his government revealed the names of some 1,400 women raped in the insurgency-hit state during the last five years.

“I tender an unconditional apology to the victims and their families. There is a deep sense of shame over the revealing of names (of the victims),” Omar Abdullah told the state legislature.

On Thursday a written reply by the state s home department to a lawmaker s query contained a list of nearly 1,400 women raped since 2006, giving out their names, parentage and residential addresses.

Abdullah, who heads the department, pledged that “such a thing will never take place again” and said he would “look into the matter”.

He made his apology after the main opposition People Democratic Party protested over the issue.

Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim state, has been in the grip of an insurgency since 1989 that has left thousands dead so far.

The violence has declined sharply since India and Pakistan, which hold the region in part, started a peace process in 2004.

Flash flood sweeps away child, three women in Landi Kotal

KHYBER AGENCY: Three women, a child and three vehicles were swept away by flash floods in Landi Kotal town of Khyber Agency on Sunday.

Heavy downpours caused flash floods in streams in Landi Kotal.

The floodwater and incessant rains also damaged roads and other properties. TrendPK

I Will Be President Until 2019: Hugo Chavez

Breaking News The President of Venezuelan Hugo Chavez said that he would be the President of the country for another eight years and he sees himself as the winner of presidential election 2012.

“I will be elected in December 2012. It is written.” While addressing to a public gathering in the capital Caracas on the 53 National Democracy Day Chavez hinted that the next term in office would be his last in
Venezuela.“I will be your servant until 2019 and then, good-bye.” Said Chavez
.
The President proudly noted that he and his supporters have repeatedly defeated opposition candidates at the polls for more than a decade. The 56-year-old Chavez, who has been in power since 1999, said that I love my country and the nation and I want to present all my services for the country and nation.

Before the speech of President, the opponents of government held a demonstration in eastern Caracas, they criticized the last month’s decision by the National Assembly of Venezuela to grant Chavez the power to pass laws by decree for 18 months.

Chavez attempted to introduce socialist reforms to the country, and emphasized the introduction of participatory democracy and further civil rights for the women and indigenous groups.

Central Contracts For Women Cricketers By PCB

After winning the Asian games final, women cricket team is appreciated a lot by PCB. They have now offered them a central contract that was demanded by them since long. Pakistan women team had bead Bangladesh team to win the final of Asia cup in china last month and won the gold medal for Pakistan.

The contracts offered by PCB will starts from 1st January and they will consist of four categories. 20 contracts will be offered for the first time for 1 year. Pakistan women team captain Sana Mir has appreciated the central contract offered by PCB and said that it is a positive move for the betterment of cricket. So far prize has been announced for these contracts.

Sana Mir added that she is happy that at last {CB has acknowledged that women cricket is also professional cricket. She also said that team is determine to play well and to get more achievements for Pakistan.

Women cricket is under PCB control since 200 and after 5 year they are awarded with central contract. In 2001 men team got central contract. There are almost 600 women cricketers in Pakistan and only 20 contracts will be awarded. After getting central contracts players will perform well and they will now properly focus on cricket.

Nation Should get Inspired by Women Crickters, says CM Punjab

Chief Minister Punjab Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that national women cricketers have performed marvelously despite terrorism and other challenges that the country is facing , trendpk.Com reported on Tuesday. The CM also said that the wole nation is proud of its women’s cricket team and that the nation should get inspiration from the team.

Speaking at the banquet arranged in honour of the women cricket team, CM said that women cricketers have proved by winning Gold medal in the Asian games that they are gaining immense and pacy successes in all fields of life. The CM Punjab announced to arrange a ground and an academy for the team while he also gave Rs. 400,000 and shields to all the members of the team.

Self Reliance–A key to success

Thanks to foreign ‘aid’. Our debts have consistently increased to unsustainable level, and economic growth consistently decreased. Wealth is correlated with poverty because the two go hand in hand. We cannot eliminate poverty through foreign aid without elevating our own wealth. It cannot be accomplished by simply giving wealth to those who need it. True wealth is not having something simply today, true wealth comes from being able to go out everyday and generate more than the previous day. Wealth is not created through wealth redistribution no matter how much we may wish it otherwise. Pakistan has been under “development” for the last sixty three years. It needs leadership, empowerment, and inspiration and a reconnection to its culture coupled with proper future planning. Government should formulate concrete self reliance strategy, and adopt long or short term policy to encourage self reliance in the public and private sectors. Foreign aid to impoverished nations is no more a solution to poverty than social welfare in our own country. It needs to become self-sufficient and sovereign from foreign influence. The exploitation goes hand in hand with aid, and only serves to keep corrupt governments in charge. With deepening poverty in Pakistan where ‘aid’ had, and still has, its hand fittingly wrapped around the necks of the poor, it would seem official that development ‘aid’ is neither necessary nor sufficient for ‘development’; To continue with the trick of ‘aid’ seems to be generously absurd.

Pakistan contains many lessons from this fraud of ‘aid’. It has lost self-sufficiency in food production that it enjoyed before development assistance was invented, and during the past few decades, has become instead a beggar hopelessly dependent on the largesse of outsiders–per-capita food production has fallen in every year since 1980s. Seven out of every ten Pakistanis, are furthermore, now reckoned to be destitute or on the verge of extreme poverty. The policy dictates of the solidly backed IMF, World Bank, and other multilateral lenders are such that whatever the situation, it’s only ideal that whichever monies they will advance can create positive economic change irrespective of political will of sitting recipient governments. The money sent by the US, UK, Canada and other capitalist nations about 50% ends up in the pockets of the multi-national corporations/ contractors of donor countries, and contrary to the expectations of the donor agencies sizable chunks of money are hoarded away in politicians’ private bank accounts. Despite, the arrangement of “paying-off” the local ruling class is routine amongst the colonial capitalist nations. In turn, the poor people of Pakistan have to bear burden of 100% liability along with interest. Government of Pakistan should stop taking all types of foreign loans. Pakistani people do not need it, just government and military need the loans. People of Pakistan have never got benefit of all these loans but have been paying heavy taxes for those loans which are stocked in the pockets of bureaucrats, politicians and military generals. I would suggest people of Pakistan must rise to roads to stop these foreign loans, which is darkening the future of next generation. The people taking these huge loans will be out of the country along with their brief cases leaving the poor people of Pakistan at the mercy of circumstances.

Elite capitalist nations, such as US, UK and Canada, portray some aid packages to Muslim countries as charity. But, in reality, this money is an investment that enables the colonial powers to maintain their influence in the Muslim lands. Foreign aid is a tool of control instead of it being a tool of eradication of poverty. We must reject the continued subordination of our affairs to these colonial nations. Wealth creation is the only way to eradicate poverty and foreign aid or foreign loan is not. It certainly works regardless of the society that you are in is to produce something that people are willing to pay for. It is through the process of creation and bartering that wealth is created and maintained. To truly bring a nation out of poverty is through the creation of goods that others are willing to purchase. Both domestically and globally Pakistani products have yet to gain acceptance for their quality and worthiness. It is not understandable as to why don’t we work harder for that, why don’t we work hard in the farms, factories, offices, and to build schools, especially to educate the women, so they teach their children, and so on! Deploy at least 7% of GDP in education for the next 10-15 years; educated nation will definitely get rid of all evils of our society and economy. An educated citizen is less likely to vote for a corrupt politician, or to let what is theirs is stolen by corrupt politicians. Pakistan has been blessed with enormous natural resources, but a handful of people have some how managed to gather it up, while the majority are starving and desperate. Garnered and justified in the name of the destitute and the vulnerable, ‘aid’s main function in the past more than half-century has been to create and then entrench a powerful new breed of wealthy, privileged and accountable-to-one gang of foreign parasites. In this camp of screw-the-poor-out-of-existence made up of the World Bank, IMF, United Nations and other worthless behemoths of international mediocrity, ‘aid’—and nothing else—has provided ‘jobs for the boys’ and has permitted record-breaking self-serving behavior, arrogance, paternalism, and fearless cowardice.

Self reliance should be our national slogan and not a political catch-word. Self reliance is a boon and a skill, a need and a necessity, a challenge and a benefit. Self-reliance is a key to gratifying and productive life. Being self reliant gives us great freedom. And this experience opens our eyes to new possibilities, to new prospects, to new options. Our forefathers, our Qaid wanted to see Pakistan an independent and self-reliant country. Pakistan has no alternate except to rely on its own capabilities to defend its sovereignty. We should follow the saying, “You can give a man a fish and feed him for a day or teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.” A fisherman waits on no one to provide food; a fisherman knows where to go to get it and can feed himself quite well.

Women rights’ seminar held in Badin

Staff Report

BADIN: Women problems need to be tackled immediately on emergency basis; suggested a seminar on women rights held in Badin on Wednesday.

A local Non Governmental Organization (NGO) organized a seminar ‘Women Rights Awareness’ in Badin Gymkhana today. Women from across the district, including rural areas, participated in the seminar.

The speakers of seminar said that many laws on women rights had been made in the country but none of them is being followed.

The women participants of the seminar presented many suggestions for the solution of their problems and demanded for the implementation of the existing laws on women rights. Trend Pk

Women rights’ seminar held in Badin

Staff Report

BADIN: Women problems need to be tackled immediately on emergency basis; suggested a seminar on women rights held in Badin on Wednesday.

A local Non Governmental Organization (NGO) organized a seminar ‘Women Rights Awareness’ in Badin Gymkhana today. Women from across the district, including rural areas, participated in the seminar.

The speakers of seminar said that many laws on women rights had been made in the country but none of them is being followed.

The women participants of the seminar presented many suggestions for the solution of their problems and demanded for the implementation of the existing laws on women rights. Trend Pk

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