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 FRONTRUNNER (90 minutes) Afghanistan/USA Director/Producer: Virginia Williams Producer: Halima Kazem Description: “Vote for the mother” Dr. Massouda Jalal shouts to the crowd. Amidst death threats and bomb attacks, Jalal doggedly campaigns from the back of a taxi, in mosques, in homes, in busy markets and in the streets. Her courage shows that it’s the dangerous work done by ordinary Afghans—women and men—that will determine the fate of a newly born democracy. Frontrunner tells the heroic story of this medical doctor and mother of three. As a children’s advocate, she defied the murderous Taliban regime. Now, she boldly runs for president—the only woman in a field of seventeen candidates. In a dramatic turn of events, she holds the fate of the country’s first presidential election in her hands. Biography: Virginia Williams is an Emmy Award-winning producer who has written and produced documentary specials and series for Discovery Channel, TLC, National Geographic, PBS, and other broadcasters. Her company, New View Films, LLC, also produces high-impact educational-media toolkits and advocacy media about important social and public-health issues. While working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, Virginia became interested in the reality vs. Western perception of women’s role in Islamic society. In June 2002, she received a research grant from ITVS to investigate a film about Afghan women’s rights activists’ role in rebuilding Afghanistan after the Taliban. Since returning to her birthplace of Afghanistan in the spring of 2002, Halima Kazem has trained dozens of Afghan journalists at the International Center for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) and the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS). She is currently the Afghanistan correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. Halima has also worked as a correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and as an associate producer for MSNBC News. As a journalist specializing in Central and South Asian Affairs, she has appeared on CNN and National Public Radio (NPR) as a news analyst. Her extensive experience in the region has also led her to work as a media consultant for various organizations including the World Bank, UNIFEM, the Center for International Private Investment (CIPE), and Afghanistan Presidential Office. Contact Information: Virginia Williams New View Films, LLC 4108 4th Street NW Washington DC 20011 E-mail: virginia@newviewfilms.tv Web site: http://www.frontrunnermovie.com |
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