video i Season 14
#1407 - INDIA AND AFRICA
Original Airdate: Fri, September 4, 2009 at 11pm
Two films about people and cultures challenged by change.
MONSOON (Dir. Shyam Balsé)
In the sweltering heat of Indian summer, a California cardiologist and atheist returns to his native country to treat his father's ailing health. Govinda despises India almost as much as he does his father, who embraces it. It is dirty, disorganized, superstitious and the place where his beloved wife was killed in a tragic accident. Much to his frustration, his father, a devout Hindu Brahmin, refuses medical treatment, claiming that only God can heal him. As the tension between father and son grows, Govinda gets drawn back into the mystery surrounding his wife's death, stirring up old skeletons that threaten to split the family forever. For more about this film, go to www.monsoonfilm.com.
Filmmaker Bio
After earning a BA from UC San Diego, Shyam Balsé moved to Los Angeles to make a life in the television and film industry. Since then he has written and produced dozens of hours of television for Paramount Television, Travel Channel, Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and other Discovery Networks. After graduating with an MFA from the Film Production Program at the University of Southern California, Shyam launched Tempered Entertainment with producing partner Joseph Itaya. For more information go to www.temperedentertainment.com.
AFRICA'S DAUGHTERS (Dir. Natalie Halpern)
Two Ugandan girls with big dreams...challenging their culture, defying the odds...in a country where a high school education is generally reserved for boys. Hoctavia is one of 31 children, most of whom dropped out of school. Ruth lives in a tiny apartment in one of Kampala's poorest neighborhoods with her mother and three siblings. Graduating from high school is the only way they can lift themselves and their families out of poverty. Like millions of girls in Africa who will never move beyond primary school, their challenges are not unique. Their journey is. To learn more about the film and about efforts to help these women, go to www.africasdaughters.net.
Filmmaker Bio
Natalie Halpern is an award-winning filmmaker with a passion for making documentaries that capture the immeasurable capacity of the human spirit and the vulnerabilities of children living in poverty. Prior to beginning her film career, Natalie was a television news reporter and a producer focusing on the politics, economics, and culture of the U.S., Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe.
Her inspiration for making the transition into documentary filmmaking came from a desire to tell stories of hope and courage that were not being told and provide a better understanding of some of the critical social issues confronting our world. Her love of film was nurtured by her mother who took her to a movie almost every week from the age of four.
