AFS Essential Cinema: KHAMOSH PANI: SILENT WATERS February 24, 2009

Ayesha is a widow who manages to support herself and her son Saleem with her late husband’s pension and by teaching the Koran to a small group of young girls. She is a pious, loving woman who believes that Saleem will have a bright future. But it is the late 70s, a time when the fires of Islamist radicalism are being stoked by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, President of Pakistan. Saleem comes under the eyes and then tutelage of a group of fanatics, who berate good people for not observing all Muslim rules. When a group of Sikh pilgrims enter their town to visit a holy site, the Islamists confront them. Saleem’s association with the radicals causes his mother to reveal a secret about her own past, one which horrifies her son and causes him to question his very identity.

Official Website: http://www.austinfilm.org/film/KHAMOSH_PANI_SILENT_WATERS