Abstract:

In 1988 Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister of Pakistan, the first woman to head a Muslim country. Born into a feudal society and educated at Oxford, she has indeed straddled two worlds. She was the daughter of the charismatic Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first democratic leader of Pakistan, who was executed in a military coup in 1977. This film traces Pakistan's stormy past, a powderkeg of a country surrounded by four dangerous neighbors -- Iran, Afghanistan, China, and India. Internally violence, corruption and poverty are endemic. This documentary explores a complex woman who some see as a calculating, fearless politician and others as a charming ambassador for her country, devoted to her husband and children. One of Benazir's challenges is to improve the situation of women, who have long been victims of discrimination and violence.