Written by: Sana Shahid
Posted on: March 24, 2023 | 
| 中文
A still from B for Nao
They say Islamabad is dreary, I say Islamabad is inspirational with mesmerizing landscapes and varying seasons. Spring brings diverse outdoor festivals and cultural activities, from musical concerts to art exhibitions and international expos. Welcoming the new season, Foundation Art Divvy organized a film festival celebrating Pakistani filmmakers at the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) from 17th-19th March 2023. This weekend, PNCA was oozing creativity and live music, but the Divvy Film Festival was the talk of the town.
Usman Mukhtar won the best documentary award for Gulabo Rani
Foundation Art Divvy has been working with artists and promoting them by creating a platform to showcase their talents, locally and internationally. Pakistan has a dire need to endorse and encourage its artists, artisans and all the people who belong to the creative fields. The film festival exhibited various genres of film making from feature films to short films, documentaries as well as animations. These film-makers highlighted significant concepts and presented them with thought-provoking videography for the viewers to contemplate. The program consisted of 63 films which had been split over 3 days, from Friday to Sunday. Divvy Film Festival took place outdoors, in an ambiance conducive for sipping hot beverages in the coolness of the spring weather. The public was captivated by the films throughout the course of the three days of the film festival. On the third day, the festival hit a road bump in the form of heavy rain, making it impossible to screen outside but the organizers moved the festival indoors within no time. This shows the dedication of the team that values creativity, and would go out of its way to promote it worldwide.
The audience
Amongst the various themes of the films were women’s empowerment, climate change and the toll that the devastating floods in Pakistan took on its people in 2022. Artists have the talent to perceive the world a little differently and portray it to the viewers in a way that resonates well with them. The film-makers have highlighted some important problems faced by the people of Pakistan that are rather neglected by the authorities. They have managed to highlight some of these issues in order to drive home the seriousness of the problems.
One of the documentaries focused on the indigenous community ‘Kalasha’ in the Hindu Kush Mountains, and how their culture and traditions have been endangered. This documentary, ‘The Valleys Our Ancestors Chose’ by Tazeen Bari, is one part of the series titled ‘Voices from the Roof of the World’. Over the period of approximately 20-30 minutes, a Kalasha girl explained the challenges that her community is facing because of tourism and from the other religious communities that threaten their way of life and beliefs. This woman’s narrative reinforced the impression that the survival of the culture and beliefs of some of these minorities in this country is threatened. She mentioned tourists visiting their significant, historically conserved ancestral graveyard while touring in Chitral, and posing in open coffins for a photograph to post on social media. These acts not only show disrespect for the local culture but are also destructive of the preserved coffins.
The Valleys Our Ancestors Chose
The disastrous floods of 2022 were also highlighted, as the region of Chitral got completely destroyed. It ended with a note on how the Kalasha community will be able to survive in a new region, when they can’t even control the conditions living in their homeland. The documentary focused on climate change and global warming and its effects on the Kalasha. Soch Videos portrayed another side of climate change in their film titled ‘Women & Climate Change’. This documentary discussed the situation post-floods of 2022, with women being the main focal point. Who could’ve thought that climate change could add to the gender disparity that is already so prevalent in our society!
Women and Climate Change
Other than climate change, gender inequality and ‘Aurat March’ also acted as engaging subjects during the event. A short film, ‘Tasweer’, by Suleman Afzal sheds light on the societal pressures faced by women who either opt for or need to work to support their families. The protagonist Sofia, who recently lost her father, decides to take over his dry-cleaning shop in the interior part of the city. As a result, she faces many obstacles, including her own male relatives who try to get her father’s business by forcing Sofia into marriage. The story also promotes the idea of women supporting women, by showing how Sofia was approached for her services by a female businesswoman running a hospital and a hotel. Afzal played around with two possible endings to this story; one where the main character gets murdered by her unemployed fiancé in order to protect his ‘honor’, and another where she survives and turns a small shop into a big dry-cleaning service, while managing a number of male employees.
Tasweer
The themes and storylines for the other documentaries and films varied from personal struggles to the dying Pakistani cinema, and the increasingly difficult lives of circus performers. Such festivals are a must in the era of ignorance of the realities of our surroundings. Foundation Art Divvy is playing a vital role in spreading awareness, and bringing forward the talented and passionate indie filmmakers of Pakistan.
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