The movie ‘A Might Heart‘, which is based on the book of the same name by Marianne Pearl, the wife of Daniel Pearl, the American journalist killed in Karachi, was screened at the Film Chamber Theatre, Gemini Circle on Friday evening.

The theatre, which has over 500 seats, was full and by the time the film began, several people were standing at aisles and at the back.

Mr Sashi Kumar, chairman, Asian College of Journalism, in his special remarks on ‘Challenges and perils facing journalists today’, said the kidnapping and gruesome murder of Daniel Pearl had, in a way, “stained the conscience of the cyberspace”. Calling it an important film against the background of the war on terror, he said it would interesting to see if the facts of the case had translated into art. “Journalism is about facts, while art is about truth,” he said.

Mr Wesley Robertson, information officer, US Consulate, thanked the Madras Film Society and Indo-Cine Appreciation Foundation for hosting the film.

Daniel Pearl, who was the South Asia bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal based in Mumbai, was working in Karachi at the time of his kidnapping. (Further details about him are here.)

I didn’t know this at the time of the screening, but Marianne Pearl, who is played by Angelina Jolie in the movie produced by her husband Brad Pitt, was actually black. That seems to have been controversial. (More here)

(Link: Marianne and Angelina talk of their friendship)