Amidst the controversial decision of the current American President to prolong the lamentable war started by his predecessor, here comes a documentary that shows a glint of upside to the whole mess. After the fall of the Taliban’s gender oppressive regime in 2001 shortly after the September 11th attack, Afghanistan enjoyed a modest surge of female empowerment, as the stranglehold was lifted.
One woman who stepped up to lead the charge was Dr. Massouda Jalal, a psychiatrist and mother of three (her campaign slogan: “Vote for the mother”) whose desire to raise Afghan women’s social standing led her to become the only woman out of 17 Presidential candidates to run in Afghanistan’s first ever democratic election in 2004.
Frontrunner reminds me of an equally arresting and similar in premise documentary called My Country, My Country, which also followed first hand an ordinary doctor’s bid to become a political candidate in the historic first democratic election of a country buckling under the United States’ invading forces. Both films refrain from narrating the story, letting events play out chronologically and inviting the audience to follow it step-by-step through the eyes of someone who’d gone through it—though Frontrunner’s portrayal of the election is more clinical, in a The War Room kind of way, compared to My Country’s more intimate focus on family.
It’s too zealous at promoting Massouda’s platform, perhaps, almost as if this doc is her own private campaign spin, if we didn’t know any better. Regardless of the intention, however, Massouda’s unique story is still an illuminating look into a conflict that has always existed, but brought into the open in this strange and harsh landscape of Post-9/11 Middle East.
Anyone can guess before the movie even starts that Massouda encounters a lot of resistance during her run, from the apathetic illiterate whom no doubt found a democratic election one odd new egg, to the fundamentalists accusing Massouda of breaking Sharia law by running, and to the dirty tactics of bought votes. Point—one of the people most skeptical of Massouda’s ability to govern is none other than her own sister, who appears all too willing to preach her own sex’s limitations.
But this documentary isn’t out to expose the rampant sexism and male tyranny in the Muslim world by giving a pitying look at Massouda’s uphill battle. Facing criticism on whether or not a woman is fit to lead Afghanistan, Massouda readily points out that other densely-populated Muslim countries have elected female leaders before, such as the Indonesian President Megawati Soekarno Putri or the late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
On the contrary, Frontrunner relishes on the moments where Massouda succeeds in rallying support. It’s hopeful and inspiring, even though we know those successes were too few to land her a winning chance. Then again, the film is called Frontrunner. It was completed in 2008, a good while before the second election, which took place just a few months ago. Massouda did not run again, but she did make way for two other female candidates to join the race. Her bid for Presidency had no doubt risen the gate—granted, not all the way—for Muslim women to operate on the same level as the men.
DVD Bonus Features
The DVD release from Indiepix is an awkward build and amateurishly made. Rather than having English and Arabic subtitle tracks, the DVD instead contains two versions of the film, each with the subtitles burned onto the picture. Not particularly good picture, mind you, since the film looks like it was shot on a consumer-grade camera.
Starting the disc gives you the Indiepix logo, and then a barebones menu asking you to choose between the two versions. Should you feel like switching the language later on, you’ll have to shut the disc down and restart it.
Other than that, there’s no other noteworthy extra; the only two present are photo slideshows of the production and Afghanistan itself, which aren’t even controllable with the remote. Feel free to pretend you’re stuck watching family vacation slides.
"Frontrunner" is on sale January 12, 2010 and is rated NR. Documentary. Starring Dr Massouda Jalal.
