Pakistani short film Darya Kay Iss Paar has bagged three major awards at the New York City International Film Festival. The short film won awards including Best Short Film, Best Director and Best Leading Actress (Khaba Aziz). The film is based on the stigma attached to mental health.
Proud moment for Pakistan. 30 min Short Film Darya Kay Iss Paar (This Bank of The River) won three major awards in world prestigious New York City International Film Festival 2021. Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress. Produced by Nighat and directed by debutant Shoaib Sultan. pic.twitter.com/yFVAZQYCry
As per the description available on YouTube, Darya Kay Iss Paar (On this side of the river) is the story of a young girl named Gull Zareen, who lives in the Northern areas of Pakistan. The plot of the film revolves around the life of Zareen who has “nothing but alienation in her life.”
“The aloofness in the air of the mountainous area is adding more depression in her life. There is a gradual increase in her mental stress starting from school life to the married life. No one is ready to bother about her feelings and thoughts,” reads the official description.
“Rigid social values and norms further add fuel to the fire. Resultantly, the increasing mental stress compels her to commit suicide. The story depicts the stereotypical behavior of society towards mental illness. Certainly, it is a roller-coaster ride of strong emotions inspired from real events where the story can force a viewer to, at least, think about the issue,” it adds.
The film has been produced by Nighat Akbar Shah and directed by Shoaib Sultan.
New York City International Film Festival was founded in 2009 to celebrate the arts of film.
Announcing the news on social media, the official Twitter account of Swipe said: “Celebrations! Swipe has made an official selection at Annecy Festival 2021.”
“Swipe is the first Pakistani animated film to be featured at the oldest and highest-profile animation festival in the world,” said the announcement further, adding: “It’s a dream come true for Puffball Studios which was launched just 2 years ago.”
CEELBRATIONS! Swipe has made #officialselection at @annecyfestival 2021! Swipe is the 1st Pakistani animated film to be featured at the oldest and highest-profile animation festival in the world! It’s a dream come true for @PuffballStudios which was launched just 2 years ago! pic.twitter.com/VwfwB98rOY
According to the film’s official synopsis, “Swipe is a hand-painted animated short film about Pakistan made by a team of 20 Pakistani animators, musicians, storytellers, and actors over the course of one year.”
It was been “written, drawn, animated, composed [and] acted all under one roof, Puffball Studios.”
“Swipe is our attempt confronting a growing crisis resulting from a culmination of the nexus of technology, extremism and fascism. At the heart of this story is a confrontation with increasingly hostile, alienating, divisive circumstances and a plea for greater empathy, before it’s too late,” adds the official description further.
The short film has been directed and produced by Arafat Mazhar and co-produced by Rasti Farooq.
The demand for new and dynamic content in the entertainment industry continues to grow relentlessly mainly caused by the easy access and rise of online streaming platforms. This has consequently led to an increase in the amount of Film/TV Series productions on a global spectrum.
As the popularity of the entertainment industry continues to grow and film/TV series are now more in demand than ever before in the past, film festivals have become a vital and an indispensable platform for content acquisition for Broadcast Networks and Streaming platforms. They have also become the flag bearer of giving rise and recognition to emerging talent, providing an opportunity for them to compete against up and coming and seasoned filmmakers worldwide.
In the competitive and zealous International Film Festivals Circuit consisting of thousands of films from many different parts of the world, actor/filmmaker Saram Jaffery from Lahore, Pakistan has made waves in the industry and put Pakistan on the map by winning multiple awards for his acclaimed short film One Last Shot in the US at New York Film Awards 2020, Los Angeles Film Awards 2020 for Best Acting, Best Drama and Best Narrative.
The film has also won Best Canadian Short Film and Viewers Choice Award at the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival and Best Romantic Drama in India at Calcutta International Cult Film Festival and in Italy at Oniros Film Awards.
Competing against a vast list of many acclaimed film submissions worldwide, One Last Shot is based on a struggling musician’s life who comes from a South Asian background.
The film is inspired by real life stories where Saram Jaffery essays the lead role of a struggling musician who is trying to make ends meet and makes bad choices along the way, which puts his relationship with his loved ones in jeopardy.
One Last Shot was a debut for Aniqa Khwaja, the female lead in the film. The Canadian-based Pakistani model has done theatre work in the past. However, this was her first film.
Zuhair Raza Jaffery played the antagonist in the film. He is a renowned veteran Pakistani actor who has appeared in countless dramas during the 80s and 90s. His most popular work includes ‘Ainak Wala Jinn’ and ‘Zameen’.
Jaffery has always been immensely passionate about acting and filmmaking and embarked on his acting journey quite early. He was a child star and appeared in a few drama serials on PTV. From there his passion grew and he ventured to theatre.
He got his formal training from Humber College Toronto while he continued to appear in several independent short films and theatre. In 2018, Jaffery got his first commercial break with Pakistani feature film ‘Na Band Na Baraati’.
One Last Shot marks Saram Jaffery’s first leading role and also his digital debut in the streaming platform market. The film is available to watch in the USA and UK on Amazon Prime Video.
Jaffery is currently working on a web series that revolves around immigrants’ issues and challenges and another feature film that focuses on mental health issues.
‘One Last Shot’ has given the Pakistani film industry notable exposure globally, however Saram wants to continue contributing towards introducing Pakistani Cinema and to build a positive image of the country through the medium of art.
Minal Khan’s upcoming project with Yasir Hussain Pyaas will highlight the life of underprivileged women of Kohala Paien, Haripur who walk many miles every day to fetch water for their daily use.
Sharing pictures from the sets and details about her character, Minal said: “Shameem is a window for me to look into the life of underprivileged women of Kohala Paien, Haripur who walk through many miles to fetch water for their daily use.”
“Portraying a girl who goes through all this was really a lifetime experience for me,” remarked the actor.
Minal also shared that the film will highlight water crisis in the country.
“Water we consume daily and don’t realise how precious it is for someone living nearby,” said Minal. “Pyaas is the first drop to a series by Wajahat Hussain who is aiming to highlight such issues through a number of plays/ short films.”
Wishing Hussain good luck, Khan wrote: “Thank you for giving me a challenging character. I am available in all my capacity for any such opportunity next time too.”
Earlier, Yasir had also shared a picture with his co-star Khan and Wajahat from the sets of the film.
According to details, Pyaas is expected to release next month. Besides Yasir and Minal, the short film will also feature Nazar Hussain, Tipu Shah and Madiha Rizvi.
Pakistan’s fastest growing web-channel, See Prime released a short film titled Nam Kya Rakha on Friday, starring Hajra Yamin, Fahad Sheikh, Faizan Shaikh and Shawaiz.
“Shayan (Fahad Sheikh), the lead protagonist in the story is a cricket fanatic who ends up on a hospital bed due to a car accident, unaware of what waits for him. There he meets up the only woman he ever loved. The story discloses how healing touch of love that can happen in unlikely places at unlikely times,” reads the film’s official synopsis.
Penned by Shaha Jamshed and directed by Sohail Javed, the short story has been produced by Ali Hussain and Mahib Bukhari.
The Executive Producer of the film, Seemeen Naveed, in a statement, said, “Naam Kya Rakha is a reminder to each one of us that it is okay to look back if it will allow you to move forward – and we are glad that with See Prime we are able to tell such simple stories for our audiences.”
Fahad and Hajra are currently winning hearts as a couple in ARY Digital’s ongoing drama Jalan.
Later, the actor, who was over the moon with the win, also shared a heartfelt note in which he said that he had no words to express his happiness and thanked his co-star Rubya Chaudhry for being the “heartbeat of this film”.
“I do not have words to explain my happiness with you,” said the actor. “This is our first win so I am going to be very emotional. Since as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be a filmmaker. Starting from those VHS cameras to right now. Winning this makes me feel that all the hardships that I went through, meant something. Thank you all for your support and I cannot wait to share the film with you all.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCVz9yWpVwq/
Rubya also expressed her excitement on social media and called Mukhtar “a true gem, a star, a guy that deserves everything amazing and then some”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCWAis8AgIH/
The film which has been directed by Mukhtar and written by Ali Mudar the film sees two people at difficult crossroads of their lives, cross paths.
Speaking to a local media publication, Mukhtar shared that the “film is about two people who meet on a bench. It’s a dialogue based film which takes a very interesting twist and turns.”
He added that the film has been submitted to a lot of film festivals including the Toronto, Cannes and Busan Film Festivals but due to the current situation, they’re screening the film online but they are yet to hear back from them.
While it is not clear when the film will be screened in Pakistan, we’re hopeful we get a chance to watch it soon.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s production house SOC Films has launched a new series HOME1947 based on the Partition.
According to a press release, the HOME1947 Series is a deeply personal exploration of the lives and stories of the millions that were displaced in 1947 during the creation of two new independent states, India and Pakistan.
“HOME1947 is a series of 7 short films conceptualised and produced by SOC Films, which recreate the long-lost sights and sounds of what millions once called home and explores this world not through the words of historians and politicians, but through the eyes of those who lived through it,” read the official press release.
The series kickstarted with the release of a short-film titled Beila, directed by the critically acclaimed and award winning director Kamal Khan of Laal Kabootar fame.
Beila chronicles the journey of a mother singing her baby to sleep on a crowded train in the chaos of 1947 heading towards an unfamiliar destination. The short film starres Faiza Gillani in the lead, who reportedly sang the song live on set in a one take performance.
The HOME1947 Series first premiered as part of the HOME1947 Exhibition at the Manchester International Festival in the UK followed by exhibitions in Mumbai, Lahore and Karachi. It has been co-commissioned by the British Council in Pakistan in collaboration with the Manchester International Festival and Super Slow Way.
