WOMEN WHO DARED ...
to become Presidents & Prime Ministers
First thirteen women Presidents & Prime Ministers One of the universal cravings since the sixties, especially during the Womens' Liberation Movement, (which national media spread around the world started in America), there was always this hunger to learn the compelling and creative "secrets" of political leadership. Too little was known about "how and what it takes to become a leader," least of all, female leadership role models as Heads of State (Presidents) and Heads of Governments (Prime Ministers).
Twenty-five years ago, noone gaged the dramatic outcome of the new millennium's highly technological era. Within the first decade of the 21st century, the world began changing fast, loosing the power to attract, inspire and motivate young people on "value judgements" or understand those leadership role model qualities they inherit from family upbringing, education and living life. Most business people have forgotten the meaning of "integrity" and family honor - the difference between "what is right and important in life," becoming poor examples for young women and men entering the work place and forming career choices. * * * * * * * * *
The story began as we started researching and developing a personal biography on the Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi in June 1980, when I was given permission for a personal interview and flew to the capital city, Delhi. Unfortunately, the day following my arrival, there was the tragic news of her younger son's death in a plane crash, so the film was shelved, although I continued intensive research at the Nehru Museum, meeting friends and colleagues of the Prime Minister and visiting the government photo archival library and the department of Film. Eventually I returned back to New York to work on fundraising for the budget.
Then suddenly two years later, I received a telex from her son, Rajiv Gandhi stating that Mrs. Gandhi's Office had given permission to produce the film. Of course, he had assisted in getting it in writing from her office and I learned we were given 10 days to complete the film ! So my team and I scripted and worked 24-hour a day and we completed a 35mm film-made-for-TV titled: "FACING THE CHALLENGE" as scheduled. It had to premiere in New York, during her official trip heading the Indian Delegtion to the United Nations General Assembly in the third week of September 1983. The whole process of visual documentation was so innovative and inspiring that I must admit it was one of my most successful film projects. We met all the deadlines with complete determination. Within those ten days, we found ourselves so challenged by the assignment, that we forgot all those difficult years to produce a half hour film on a woman political leader. Of course, we were aware that we held the trump card with her son as our contact.
From day one, every minute moved as though we were preparing an orchestra for opening night, altering visuals scripts, not straying from the theme: "leadership role model," music and voice-over testing, while 8-10 35mm cutters. The whole process of visual documentation was so innovative and inspiring that I must admit it was one of my most successful film projects. We met all the deadlines with complete determination. Working on documenting the biography of any political figure is a highly guarded initiative from all those authorized permissions of the Department of External Affairs, the private office of the leader in power, especially hard when she is governing the country. It was certainly no easy task. But soon the filmmaker forgets all those hurdles, especially when everything starts falling into place. From the day you start reviewing over 25 thousand feet of 35mm raw film stock while visualizing and tracing all those biographical elements that make up to becoming Madame Prime Minister. As the only child and daughter of the former first Prime Minister of India, Jawarlal Nehru of Independent India in 1947, Indira Gandhi had accompanied her widowed father since a young girl, so there was plenty of film from her childhood to maturity.
Working on documenting the biography of any political figure is a highly guarded initiative from authorized permissions of the Department of External Affairs, the private office of the leader in power, especially hard when she is governing the country. It was certainly no easy task.
But soon the filmmaker forgets all those petty hurdles of time delays, more written permissions. Once everything starts falling into place - from the day you start reviewing over 25 thousand feet of 35mm raw film stock while visualizing and tracing all those biographical elements that make up to becoming Madame Prime Minister. As the only child and daughter of the former first Prime Minister of India, Jawarlal Nehru of Independent India in 1947, Indira Gandhi had accompanied her widowed father since a young girl, so there was plenty of film from her childhood to maturity.
* * * * * * * * *
By 1986, we started to research and developed "WOMEN WHO DARED ... to become Presidents and Prime Ministers" as a 13-part TV series, and discovered nothing had been done on the subject, except for individual biographical films by the national government agencies, and books authored by national and international publishers and authors. But there had never been a complete, compiled documentation on a large scale focusing on comparisons and similarities of the career path of women political leaders.
What made the R & D more exciting was the extraordinary strengthen of "content" we choose. It traces their personal life-stories, from family relationships involving parents, siblings, relatives and friends, etc., presenting "facts, not fiction" about the first-ever thirteen women and preparing scripts to produce individual films - a 13-part TV series. Our target audences - global family audiences and the younger generation.
Simultaneously, we began roughly scripting the thirteen TV programs, but concentrated on the companion books as a resavoir for more elaborate intimate details, which included personal interviews in order to focused on how these specific women developed and acquired those leadership qualifies to be elected Presidents and Prime Ministers in their respective countries. So each historical 13-part TV program and book series offered the "intimate story" imparting the secret ingredients of how women inherited leadership qualities, adapting with Shakespeare's seven stages of human growth: (i) Childhood, (ii) Girlhood, (iii) The Young Adult, (iv) The Bride/Wife & Mother (v) The Single Woman, Divorcee and Widow; (vi) The Career Woman and (vii) The Politician - Madam President ... Madam Prime Minister; with the final chapter as the Conclusion: remarks on summing up their leadership during the autumn years of their lives and the Age of Serenity. 
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