Pakistan

Pakistan Delegation
July 11 - 18, 2009
Filmmaker: Tricia Regan, Autism: The Musical
Expert: Bart Weiss

OUR MAN IN PAKISTAN

Specialist Bart Weiss blogs about the Pakistan Delegation
--courtesy of KERA Art&Seek Blog

Guest blogger Bart Weiss is the director of the Video Association of Dallas. He’ll be checking in from Pakistan, where he’s participating in the American Documentary Showcase.

Our Man In Pakistan: Bart Weiss

Most of my adult life, I have been talking about the power of media – particularly film and video – and how it can be a force for good in the world. We spend so much time with media that is not enriching, yet there are other choices out there to see. This is why I do the video festival and Frame of Mind on KERA, and it’s why I teach filmmaking. I believe documentary leads to empathy for people we have been taught to hate , or told are inferior or are the cause of our problem situations.[read more]

Our Man In Pakistan: Day 1

Today was an off day – mostly to catch up on sleep, go to the gym. In the evening we did a presentation at the American Club for people who worked at TV stations in Karachi. Many have done short pieces for their stations but have not had the chance to do longer work. We started by having them introduce themselves, and they were all working TV people, with the exception of one reporter. I told him he needed to learn how to make documentaries if he wants to keep his job in the new world of journalism.[read more]

Our Man In Pakistan: Day 3

Today we started at the U.S. consulate to get a security briefing from the Regional Security Officer (RSO). This is the guy who determines what is safe and what is not. Things have been very safe in Karachi for several years, and they want to keep it that way. He told us that the Pakistan secret police probably have looked at our laptops that were in the hotel safe, which was interesting, and that we could not take our laptops into the consulate. Some places we couldn’t even take our cellphones into. While these measures seem extreme, these folks need to make sure we are OK and that all the folks working there are OK. It is a mindset to get in the groove of, and now it seems OK.[read more]

Our Man In Pakistan: Day 4

Last day in Karachi. Had an early morning radio interview with an English language radio station, which was lots of fun. The DJ was mostly playing American and European music. We talked about the film series, documentaries in general and the film we have been showing, and then he asked us if it was OK to read a diary if you just happen to come upon it. Not what I thought we’d be talking about, but fun.[read more]

Our Man In Pakistan: On To Lahore

This morning, we moved from Karachi to Lahore, and what a difference a plane ride makes. Karachi was nice, the people were great, but the sky was a bit murky, there was rubble all around and it was clear we were in a third-world country. Lahore is beautiful. There is green everywhere and it is landscaped, the sky is at least two stops brighter and, while there are checkpoints, it don’t seem as tight.[read more]

Our Man In Pakistan: Talk and Tea

Today was perhaps our best day in Pakistan. The weather was great, and we had a great workshop at Punjab University. It was nice to have basically all day, because we could get a bit deeper than other days. It started like most of these events with some tea. At every stop we have tea and pastries at least once. The tea is always Lipton.[read more]

Our Man In Pakistan: On Guard

After the high and excitement of last night’s dinner and meeting, we thought nothing could top that. Then we headed out for the Interactive Resource Center. All along, we heard very few students or others wanting to talk about politics, as if there was an understanding of what we and they thought. With the Taliban ruining their country, they are at the crossroads of the battle between the past and the present. There was more talk about how to prepare for a documentary than the elephant in the room.[read more]

Our Man In Pakistan: The Trip Home

The flight from Lahore to Dubai was pretty much uneventful. Either that or I was too tired to remember. When traveling with the State Department, you have people taking you through the airport. Nice. The Dubai airport is kind of a halfway home spot, clearly a Muslim city but very modern and very full of money and commerce. It’s kind of a Vegas/Disneyland. The big thing in the airport is the duty free shops. I think we were the only people who did not buy something there. What I heard was that they have a bigger selection of goods than many people have in the countries they are coming from or going to.[read more]