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Film by an expatriate
Dr Hassan Zee has completed the shooting of his seminal Pakistani-American film Night of Henna and is now busy in its post-production phase. A medical doctor by profession and a film-maker through his passion, Hassan Zee recently started a company called Phenomenon Films in San Francisco. Ecstatic at having completed the movie, which was shot in the same city, he said “it was wonderful to have reached that milestone.” He praised his cinematographer Hiro Narita who shot the film and is now busy examining and editing 1,300 minutes of footage, approximately a hundred minute feature presentation.
The film focuses on women’s rights and choices. It is the story of a young Pakistani-American girl who has been sent back to Pakistan to live with relatives so that she can have a more traditional upbringing “protected” from western influence. It is about her return to America to attend university, about arranged marriages and the difficult decisions that are being made for her and by her as reality creeps into her life as a young woman. New Yorker Pooja Kumar, former Miss US-India, has tackled the difficult role of Hava and Craig Marker’s character of Justin offers her much to think about.
‘Night of Henna’ is the story of a young Pakistani-American girl who has been sent back to Pakistan to live with relatives so that she can have a more traditional upbringing, protected from western influence
The movie stars Grija Shankar as Abdul, Pooja Kumar as Hava and a young actor who is out to make a name for himself, Craig Marker, who plays Justin. Dr Zee, who is an ardent fan of the emerging Iranian independent cinema says that Night of Henna is similar to the recent Indian overseas success stories like Bend It Like Beckham, the critically acclaimed Monsoon Wedding and the British-Pakistani family drama East is East which conquered many critics in Europe.
Dr Hassan Zee is seeking participatory post-production funding to complete his venture and is on the lookout for sponsors. The musical score of the film is being put together at this time with the editing requiring additional resources. He wants to take this movie to the Toronto Film Festival, which begins in September, and then later to the Sundance, Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals.
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