Web Desk: Pakistani filmmakers secured multiple honors at the 12th edition of the Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival (MISAFF) in Canada, marking another strong showing for the country’s cinema on the international stage.
Several Pakistani productions received recognition during the festival, including Sarmad Khoosat’s dark comedy “Lali,” filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s documentary “Hanging by a Wire” and Kamran Faiq’s short film “The Last Glance.”
Khoosat’s “Lali,” which opened the festival, received the Special Jury Prize as well as an award for Best Sound Design.
The film, which also premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, follows Zeba, a young woman portrayed by Mamya Shajaffar. Her life takes an unusual turn after three of her former husbands die under mysterious circumstances, leading people around her to label her a cursed bride.
Naqvi’s documentary “Hanging by a Wire” received the Sabyn Mahmood Award for Courage in Cinema.
The film revisits the 2023 Battagram cable-car incident in which eight people, including six children, became trapped hundreds of feet above the ground after a cable supporting their lift broke. A lengthy rescue operation eventually brought all of them to safety.
The documentary was also selected by Pakistan as its submission for consideration at this year’s Academy Awards.
Meanwhile, Faiq’s “The Last Glance” won the award for Best International Short Film. The production portrays a family attempting to flee its village amid escalating violence.
Another Pakistani documentary, “The Gymnasts of Fishermen Colony,” received an honorable mention in the Best Documentary category. The film focuses on young gymnasts from Karachi’s Machar Colony and explores their lives and ambitions.
MISAFF aims to introduce Canadian audiences to filmmaking from South Asia, as well as West Asia and North Africa.
This year’s festival ran from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 and featured 16 feature films and 30 short films from Pakistan, India, Canada, Nepal, Iran and other countries.
The multiple awards for Pakistani productions add to the growing international visibility of the country’s filmmakers and highlight the diversity of stories emerging from Pakistan’s contemporary cinema
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