Front Runner is a fascinating documentary that follows Dr. Massouda Jalal who boldly ran for President of Afghanistan.
Front Runner 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 17 candidates. In a dramatic turn of events, she holds the fate of the country’s first presidential election in her own hands.
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.
Release Street: January 26, 2010
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Front Runner follows Dr. Massouda Jalal as she attempted to be in the running for President of Afghanistan in 2002 and did not make the cut but was officially in the running in 2004. Viewers in fact meet all of those running for President in the introduction videos to their country but the documentary strives to follow Dr. Massouda Jalal in a country full of conservatives and religious extremists. Along the way we meet US Ambassador of Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, US Political Affairs Officer, Rina Amiri, CNN national correspondent, Gary Tuchman, Journalist, Halima Kazem, Women’s rights activist, Nasrine Gross, and many more. This documentary aims to express the political advantages of being a woman in Afghanistan, as we are so used to seeing the disadvantages displayed in the country. Dr. Massouda Jalal succeeds in gaining support from both women and men of all ages, though surprisingly not from her own sister. Tragic.
Viewers get to see her responding to the men who have a problem with a woman in authority, and unfortunately see the reality firsthand when police men told her camp to take down her presidential candidate posters – while all of the other candidates’ posters were up around town. Disappointing. Though it was heartwarming to see how much effort her campaign staff put into creating her slogan, logo, and a promotional video as well as learning about the women who were illiterate took classes so they could understand the presidential election and how to vote. Though when it came time to vote, there were many conflicts that arose as people were voting more than once, the ink system used to tell when someone had already voted failed, and there were privacy issues. Talk about frustrating.
Though in the end, Dr. Massouda Jalal reminds us that even if she doesn’t win as she continues to run for President in the future, she is inspiring women to simply have a voice. Dr. Massouda Jalal came in 6th out of 16th Presidential candidates but something tells me she will become President of Afghanistan soon enough. This was quite an interesting documentary as it literally followed Dr. Massouda Jalal as she rean of President…it was not educational in the sense that viewers do not find out what her opinions are about certain topics and what her specific plan of action is as President. That would have made this documentary even more interesting! Take note documentary filmmakers, for the time that Dr. Massouda Jalal does take office.
Bonus Features:
This special features include The Making of Front Runner – Crew Pix Slideshow and Afghanistan: A Country In Transition – Brian Liu Photography Slide show, both with no background music. The second slide show is much more interesting, showing off the people of the country and its nature while the second lacks depth and mainly shows those that worked on the film behind different cameras. There was much more that could have been done with the first slide show but since the second slide show is so fabulous, viewers shouldn’t mind.
Front Runner releases on DVD January 26, 2010.