What are the implications for democracy in Pakistan when secular political parties have succumbed to the Islamic agenda? What does it mean when the army appears to be the only force able to contain the opponents of democracy, the armed Islamists? President Musharraf agrees to explore this apparent contradiction over dinner at his official residence, the Army House. As the discussion moves in and out of the different worlds in Pakistan a complex tapestry emerges revealing a society unique yet universal. The filmmaker talks to diverse individuals, from labourers to intellectuals, from street vendors to religious right wing political party members, and from journalists to industrialists. What is their idea of democracy in Pakistan? What is their idea of President Musharraf’s vision of a modern Pakistan? Dinner With the President questions the role a military leader can play in guiding a state towards modern democracy.
Born in Karachi, SABIHA SUMAR studied Filmmaking and Political Science at Sarah Lawrence College in New York and then read History and Political Thought at the University of Cambridge. Who Will Cast the First Stone (1988) was her first film (for Channel Four Television, UK). It won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival and was also screened at In Visible Colors, Vancouver. She has gone on to direct many other films including Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters 2003), a feature film which received the Silver Grand Balloon for Second Best Film at the 3 Continents Festival, France, and the Golden Leopard for Best Film at the Locarno International Film Festival. In 2003 she also documented her personal journey through the Islamisation process in Pakistan in Hawa Kay Naam (For a Place Under the Heavens).
S. Sathananthan was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka and read for the PhD degree at the University of Cambridge. He co-founded Vidhi Films and has produced several documentaries that have played important national and international roles in catalyzing social change. His films include Suicide Warriors, a documentary about the female suicide brigade of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam; On The Roofs Of Delhi, a short film about the dreams and aspirations of a poor 14-year-old girl; and Khamosh Pani/Silent Waters, a feature film about the growth of Islamic extremism in Pakistan. The film won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2003.