Geeta Patel '94

Watch Geeta Patel ‘94 speak about her time time at NCSSM
and her film career during  the school’s 31st Convocation Exercises.

Indian American Filmmaker Geeta Patel, a Class of 1994 graduate of NCSSM, is writer/director of documentary and dramatic feature films. She began her career as the youngest Associate Screenwriter in Hollywood, working with award-winning writers and directors of big-budget films in all stages, ranging from original work to production re-writes. She has worked with Disney, Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, ABC, NBC, and Twentieth Century Fox, including The Fast and the Furious and Blue Crush.

A former Sundance Institute Directing Fellow and Tribeca TAA Fellow, Geeta has taught Master Classes and served as Visiting Lecturer in Universities around the world. She is a Filmmaking Advisor for the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), served on the Nomination Committee for the Rockefeller Foundation/Renew Media’s Media Art’s Fellowship as well as the IDA’s (International Documentary Association) DocuWeek and CAAM selection committees.

She was recently Visiting Artist in Belarus and Turkey, as one of 29 filmmakers chosen for a new US State Department initiative in the arts. Currently, she is writer/director of a narrative martial arts feature entitled Mouse. Geeta is also Director/Cinematographer of the romantic comedy documentary film entitled One in a Billion (CAAM/CPB/PRI), due in 2010.

The Sundance/ITVS-funded documentary feature Project Kashmir will premiere May 18, 2010, on PBS.

NCSSM Magazine: Why and how did you embark on Project Kashmir?
Geeta: Haha! I don’t think I ever fully committed to Project Kashmir in the form it presumed. Maybe that’s the trick of taking on large things that seem impossible. Baby steps and next thing you know, you’re drowning and must learn how to swim simply to survive. And then boom, you crawl to shore with limbs missing and gray hairs, but hey, you did it. It was something that I entered inch by inch, day by day. Our growing dedication to the art and social justice aspects led to an eight-year all-or-nothing passion project.

The simple answer to your question is that I took a leave from working as an Associate Screenwriter in Hollywood studio films to write my first novel and decided to set in it in Kashmir since my family was from India. I had never been to Kashmir, nor did I have much of an idea about what was going on. As I realized the dearth of information on this place that was said to be the trigger for the next nuclear war, I felt compelled to film the life behind the headlines. This was already two years into my research process. I then called Senain, who I knew through an artist collective in LA, and asked her to give me a quick tutorial on using a camera. She said, “Let’s go together, as a Muslim and a Hindu.” We directed the film together.

NCSSM Magazine: How did Kashmir come to be the subject of your documentary? Did the interest in documentary film-making come first or was it the interest in Kashmir?
Geeta: I was always interested in the arts, in writing and film, but I came from an immigrant family that had given up everything (it seemed) to provide me my education and the opportunities that followed. It’s so difficult to defy the safe route and also let your family down. It was harder to get into NCSSM than Duke. To “throw it away,” as they say, was a serious and crazy decision and I needed time to get there. I remember wondering if maybe my love for the arts was recreational since I didn’t go for it earlier. I accepted a job at General Electric in their fast-track internal MBA/Financial Management program in New York City. Over the two years I was there, I wrote hundreds of letters to producers and directors in Hollywood while writing scripts at night. Finally, I moved to LA in a matter of four days and took a four-week gig as someone’s coffee-slave. That “someone” became my mentor. It sounds easy perhaps, but I think when you get what you love, you forget all the bad stuff.

NCSSM Magazine: A gentleman in the trailer says, “It’s not about Hindus and Muslims. It’s nothing like that.” What is it about and is there a common story/desire shared by everyone in the region?
Geeta: A sustainable solution can only come from listening to the people on the ground and adjusting politics, throwing away nationalistic pride and anger, and focusing on the people who pay the highest price. This conflict was once only about politics and religion, perhaps. At this point, it’s way too messy to [find] a one-stop solution. People have lost loved ones, families have lost homes. Under the political system, there is resentment and anger that is well-justified. In order to sustain anything, the people who have lost so much must discuss what happened, make peace among themselves, listen and forgive and trust. This is very difficult and we created this film as a baby step in that direction. You can only take baby steps and hope that it will lead to a sustainable solution. To this day, few solutions to these kinds of warzones have been sustained.

NCSSM Magazine: Describe the social atmosphere of the region. Is there anything about the situation in Kashmir that you think the West does understand correctly? What is most misunderstood or misrepresented by the West?
Geeta: As far the Kashmiri people, all of them have suffered and continue to suffer. The greatest mistake we are making right now as global citizens is actually comparing peoples’ suffering. If you suffered, you suffered. When we start comparing, we start dividing and peace becomes almost impossible. People have suffered physical abuse, yes. They have lost lives, been tortured, extra-judicially arrested. They have lost their homes. However, we must remember psychological abuse—this is what we don’t see and we often don’t consider. In this film, we wanted audiences to understand this critical part of the conversation about any conflict zone. There is more info on our Web site.

NCSSM Magazine: What was the most challenging aspect of making this documentary?
Geeta: The point of this film is to allow audiences to feel how complicated the conflict is. It is not as simple as Hindu-Muslim or India-Pakistan. That is exactly our point. However, we had to initiate the conversation by presenting these incorrect statements first. Many people have never heard of the Kashmir, so it was important to start with the simple arguments and then counter them with the truth by way of showing the audience through stories, not just telling them. It was very difficult to allow the film to speak for itself. This is because filmmaking is never objective. We spent two years editing this film and crafting every word and every moment. The people in this film and the various angles of the conflict were considered so carefully! It was an amazing collaboration for us since we had very different experiences with the subject-matter and the politics.

NCSSM Magazine: Was there ever a moment during the filming when you lost hope for Kashmir’s future, when you thought, “This can’t be resolved?”
Geeta: We felt hopeless many times. Our hope came from the many brave Kashmiris who you meet in the film. They kept going, despite the odds.

NCSSM Magazine: How has the film been received by audiences? Has it been screened in India or Pakistan?
Geeta: The film had a sold-out premiere in New York. We were shocked, to tell you the truth. You never know how these things will turn out. We made this film to create dialogue among the South Asian community, so it was very important that the community as a whole would accept it, regardless of what side of the debate they were on. The film has proven to be exactly what we had hoped for in this regard. Also, general audiences have embraced the film since it allows you to actually feel what it’s like to live in one of the many “permanent” warzones that unfortunately exist in the world today. This is not just a film about Kashmir, in that respect; it’s a film about what it’s like to live in a warzone. We have been overwhelmed by the e-mails coming in. The film has not yet screened in India or Pakistan, however we hope to do that if the three brave Kashmiris in the film feel comfortable with it.

NCSSM Magazine: What do you hope people learn from Project Kashmir?
Geeta: We hope they recognize biases, and even racisms, if you will, within themselves. We hope they see the ambiguous and yet sharp complexity of these situations. And we hope they see that the key to resolving conflict — big and small — is how you fight, not why you fight. Nothing wrong with fighting, however success comes from the maturity of knowing how to deal with anger, differences, and the areas of debate that seem black and white. The gray area is where the answer lies, however we can only get there when we listen. That’s a tall order. We’ve all been there. It’s really emotional.

NCSSM Magazine: Who were you before you made Project Kashmir? Who are you now?
Geeta: Before I made Project Kashmir, I was someone who understood things from the outside, which meant that I oversimplified the situation. After Project Kashmir, I felt it from the inside, which made me speechless and confused by the complexity. This was the gray area of life, and this was the truth. I also became a filmmaker through this film. I learned how to edit, shoot, direct, deal with crew, create budgets, and find ways to learn from others. I always wished I went to film school, and through Project Kashmir, I found ways to learn while making the film on deadline and with very real professional pressures. I have many people and organizations to thank for the believing in this film and us as first-time filmmakers.

NCSSM Magazine: How did your experience at NCSSM prepare you for the project?
Geeta: NCSSM taught me to be fearless, brave, and believe in the impossible. I was inspired by the brilliant and passionate students I met there and I still feel a strong connection to all of them. NCSSM was a very special experience for me, since I felt it was a microcosm of the real world. Much of my work today deals with themes I saw and experienced at NCSSM. It was a school that gave me tremendous freedom that I had never had before, and at the same time, it was a jewel in the crown for North Carolina. Everyone was watching NCSSM and so we, as students, had to be on our best behavior. I ran for Student Government President and remember making some crazy, complicated, 3-D signs and hanging them near the cafeteria. I was obsessed and couldn’t even focus on my classes! I felt the intense power of leadership, the feeling that if you can achieve this high position, you will be accepted and loved by everyone. It was also a time when I felt expressive in my search to understand rules and the idea of government. We, as students, were governed and controlled, for our own “well-being” and yet sometimes we felt that the government was our enemy. I think back to NCSSM and remember being a troublemaker. I don’t know how they put up with me. NCSSM was a place where I grew up very fast and learned so much. It’s difficult to explain NCSSM to anyone who hasn’t been there. I’m very thankful for that opportunity.

NCSSM Magazine: What’s next for you?
Geeta: I’m working on my next films. One is an insane, scripted martial arts film that I wrote and will direct. I also have another documentary in production called One in a Billion. It’s a comedy that I’ve had a blast working on with my brother, Ravi, who’s starring in the new Fox show “Past Life,” which will premiere soon. One in a Billion is a new media project that will be distributed on Radio and TV, along with the web, etc. My novel and book of short stories are on their way. I’ve also been teaching and touring Embassies as part of a new initiative in the arts with the U.S. State Department. It has been amazing and I feel very lucky.

NCSSM Magazine: What is the best career advice you would give students interested in your field?
Geeta: When you think about all the different things you want to do with your life and you want to hyperventilate, don’t. What you’re feeling is natural and most people feel that way for 99 percent of their lives. None of us have one job or one title that defines us. That’s the point of life, to ebb and flow, to move. So if you have five paths you want to take, just pick one and go with it. The only way to know if it’s right is to do it. That first job, as critical and defining as it may seem, is weightless. You could get there and leave in two days, two years. So don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself. It’s not like college. You don’t have to stay with a company for four years and get your degree! In the arts, you must learn to be positive, pick yourself back up, and keep going. Hollywood is hard a place, but it’s also a magical place.