Switzerland Premiere - Oct 12, 2008
Day 2 of my trip here
Locations: Zurich, Basel, Bern
Screening Numbers: 1, 2 and 3
What a great day.
Its 2am and I just got back to Zurich. This will be a quick post as there is a television interview planned for tomorrow morning.
The premieres went fantastic. Just even numbers wise, for example in Zurich, we had 350 people at that screening. That's quite big! (There are only about 10 Ismailis in Zurich)**. The questions were thoughtful, the audience was engaged, I couldn't be happier. Thank you to all those who spread the word. Thank you to all those who attended. Thank you to the panelists. Thank you to Sara Leu/Docufactory for bringing the film to Switzerland. No, this isn't an Oscar acceptance speech (but thank you to my tailor, my agent, and my hair stylist too. :) )
Many people came up to me after the screenings to tell me about previous experiences they have had with the Aga Khan, his father and/or his grandfather. They were all so happy to have heard about this film and that a film was made on the Ismailis. They brought more than just stories, they brought photos too - especially to show and share with me. Oh and by the way, these were mainly non-Ismailis who were coming up to me with the anecdotes and picts.
What was really interesting was how the Zurich-based group of 10 Ismailis, who meet every week for prayer, found three more Zurich-based Ismailis whom they never knew existed (!) - and vice versa. The small community is a little less smaller and they were very happy. The known jamat here has now increased by 30% and they joked that it should be large enough for them to have their own jamatkhane*!
*Ismaili place of worship, comparable to a mosque
**Updated Oct 31, 2008: another friend there said there is more like 30 Ismailis in Zurich
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