Short film festival opens at Alliance Francaise | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Short film festival opens at Alliance Francaise

Pakistan Press Foundation

KARACHI: Screening of Students’ Short Movies & Documentaries at the Alliance Francaise, French cultural centre started here on Tuesday. All in all, six short films were screened as the audience, mainly students, filled the hall.

The event was in collaboration with the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, where work of two media science students was also shown.

Among the French films were Les Naufrages, Faux freres, Trois secondes et demie and La Ravaudeuse, all of which were made by the students of a French University, FEMIS. The films addressed some neglected issues, recorded with immense artistic skills as the audience gaped in admiration.

Faux freres was about a young boy who gets bullied by his friends and often labelled as ‘feminine’ because of his girly appearance.

Trois secondes et demie was starred by a guy who visits his grandfather after a long time and much to the dismay of the latter revealed that he is ‘asexual’, a term which his grandpa failed to comprehend. The film has some very refined dialogues as it tries to focus on the notion of asexuality our society lacks acceptance of.

Subsequently, the films, the Guardian by Amna Soomro and Khamosh Khwahish by Sarmad Latif were screened reflecting the filmmaking abilities of the students of the country. The Guardian left many a viewer confused as it apparently revolved around a somewhat abstract idea whereas Khamosh Khwahish managed to bring tears in many eyes as it neared the ending. The film was about a couple, deaf and mute, which fought for and against having a child of their own.

The child would be deaf and mute like them, argued the male spouse, who didn’t want his child to be silent like them. His wife gets angry with him, becoming more distraught day by day. As if like an angel, a friend’s daughter was to stay with the deaf-and-mute couple since her parents are off to Umrah. The time they both spend with the little girl convinces them, the male spouse beyond any doubt and qualms, that how beautiful life becomes with an arrival of a child.

They both, in the end, agreed to have a baby of their own. “No matter if he will be able to express itself, listen to the voices or not, it will still be our own baby,” gestures the father-to-be with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes.

Art-related shows, exhibitions and activities in a violence-torn city, like Karachi, are but the need of the hour for masses that want to enjoy, experience and breathe life of which they rarely get a chance.

The Director of the institute, Chenin, expressed a feeling of elation while talking to Daily Times on the opening day of the event which will be organised every Tuesday in the same venue at 1800 hours.

“In a month we organise 10-12 events which often get huge response by the public as our events are open for all,” said Muhammad Iqbal, General Secretary of the Alliance Francaise Karachi.

The next date for screening is January 28, 2014.

Daily Times


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