Synopsis
A mother's extraordinary journey begins in the heart of Pakistan.
In the mountains of Pakistan, a mother and her ten-year-old daughter flee their home on the eve of the girl's marriage to a tribal leader. A deadly hunt for them begins.
Dukhtar
2014 ‘دختر’ Directed by Afia Nathaniel
Cast
Director
Producers
Carsten Aanonsen Afia Nathaniel Shrihari Sathe Muhammad Khalid Ali Muhammad Asghar Thea Kerman Khalid Mushtaq Zinnia Sheikh Cordelia Stephens Noman Waheed
Writer
Editor
Cinematography
Assistant Director
Executive Producers
Production Design
Art Direction
Composer
Songs
Sound
Makeup
Studios
Country
Language
Alternative Titles
Kizim Için, Дочь, Daughter
Releases by Date
Premiere
-
CanadaPG
Toronto International Film Festival
09 Oct 2015
-
USAPG
San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival
Theatrical
18 Sep 2014
-
Pakistan
14 Nov 2014
-
IndiaU
Digital
31 Aug 2016
-
FranceU
Releases by Country
Canada
05 Sep 2014
- PremierePG Toronto International Film Festival
France
31 Aug 2016
- DigitalU Netflix
India
14 Nov 2014
- TheatricalU
Pakistan
18 Sep 2014
- Theatrical
USA
09 Oct 2015
- PremierePG San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival
Popular reviews
More-
March Around the World 2021 - Pakistan
This has a lopsided/low-budget feel sometimes for sure, but the story is compelling enough to overcome that wobbliness. I have qualms about how obliquely the violence is treated, but thankfully that is a secondary focus, and the main relationships in the story are moving and pretty artfully portrayed. There are a couple of standout sequences that are truly breathtaking, and make me hope that director Afia Nathaniel is given more filmmaking opportunities-- I would love to see whatever she makes next.
-
There are definitely better movies about people on the run, but this is still a good entry in that category.
-
-
There's no hiding the 'first film by a first time director' nature of this film, and that comes through in unfortunate ways. Some of the writing can be clumsy, some of the shots are unintentionally funny (there's a scene wherein the bad guy glowers at the camera), and some performances are....from first time actors, without a lot of preparation.
But for every clumsy scene, there's a scene of immense beauty (aided by the amazing background of Pakistan). For all the clumsy dialogue and performances, it's carrying performance and central focus is the fierce, caring, evocative and graceful performance of the lead actress, Samiya Mumtaz.
A first director's first film, but hopefully not her last.
-
another great addition to the "central asian* women flee from arranged child marriages with the help of a truck driver with luscious hair" cinematic universe
-
This Pakistani movie has been staged a little bit corny but it´s still worth watching. “Dukhtar” engages the topic of young girls being forcefully married to old men. In this case the father of an 11-year-old girl wants to marry her to an old tribe leader to end a war between the two clans. The mother of the girl had been married at the age of 15 and doesn´t want that to happen to her daughter. One day before the wedding she takes her daughter and runs away. This is her death sentence – if their pursuers catch them. The recordings are very nice and the story thrilling enough that I enjoyed to watch the movie.
letterboxd.com/eudorafletcher/list/trip-around-the-world-2021/
-
Tightly paced, entertaining, and well-crafted Dukhtar makes great use of every single minute of its runtime to create a magnificent action drama. Had there been more polished filmmaking and editing this would’ve been a home run in my eyes.
-
________________________________________________________________
Film #14 of 30 in my March Around The World | 2017 Challenge (Pakistan)
________________________________________________________________This feature debut from writer-director Afia Nathaniel was Pakistan's official submission (unaccepted) in the 87th Academy Awards' Best Foreign Language Film category. It tells the story, set in modern times, of two mountain family clans with a long history of hostility. They agree to bury the hatchet by wedding two of their kin. From one clan, the 10-year-old Zainab (Saleha Aref), daughter of tribal chieftain Daulat Khan (Asif Khan), is chosen, and from the other the choice is the much older rival tribe leader Tor Gul (Abdullah Jaan).
The girl's mother Allah Rakhi (Samiya Mumtaz) regrets her own arranged marriage at age 15, and…
-
-
Dukhtar is an emotion and passion filled project, with a lot of heart and sweat put into the final product.
It's not a flawless product, though, and a lot of them are chalked up in the third act. The main antagonist is kind of brushed to the side, a fakeout death that really wasn't necessary since it happens in the last 5 minutes, and pacing that didn't fit what the rest of the movie was going for.
So, I liked it. It was nice to see Pakistani culture and an endearing family story. It just didn't keep up the momentum the first 2 acts set up.
Final Score: 6/10
-
March Around the World 2018
25/30
PakistanIf Pakistan has an equivalent to Lifetime or the Hallmark channel, I can only imagine this is what would be played.
Dukhtar is an independently made film. While admirable in that sense and while being shot relatively well makes it look professional enough, the writing is honestly pretty laughable. Cliched and plain silly, it is also hard to believe just how boring the film is given the premise. As a whole I don't strongly dislike the film, it's just so amateurly put together that the cynic in me scoffs at any of the good intentions it has. Not nominated for Best Foreign Language Film even though being submitted, despite some good critical response from people who praise the film as "empowering" shows it's not even good enough to properly be called Oscar bait.
-
2/52 - The Ultimate 52 Films by Women Challenge
Film #2 - A film that passes the Bechdel test
I felt that this film was similar in a couple of ways to Elite Zexer's Sand Storm. I think I might just naturally be inclined to stories about the strong bonds between mother and daughter. Wonder why.
But! It was Alfia Nathaniel's debut feature if I remember correctly, and I thought for a debut that it was very well done. It kept me interested and I felt for both the mother and the daughter. It probably could have used some polishing but I'm quick to let that shit slide when it's a good story.