Written by: Mahnoor Fatima
Posted on: April 01, 2021 | 
| 中文
The Filmmakers for Char Chaukay Bees
Film lovers have been longing for the experience of viewing fresh and thoughtful work by local artists, but have been unable to gather together for festivals due to the need to socially distance. Moreover, young and passionate filmmakers await opportunities to work on and share their films with audiences. Lahore’s Olomopolo Media has sought to address these needs by bringing together talent and film enthusiasts to ‘Char Chaukay Bees’, an online and socially distant film festival.
‘Char Chaukay Bees’ is a filmmaking fellowship and a film festival showcasing 20 films by 4 critically acclaimed directors, and 16 young filmmakers chosen for the program. As the first of its kind, ‘Char Chaukay’ has been set up to work with issues of inclusion, representation and diversity through film and collaboration. The workshops began in January 2020 with the young filmmakers and mentors creating original works to show audiences.
The Festival Curators
The festival lineup has been carefully curated by veteran directors Sarmad Khoosat, Mehreen Jabbar, Farjad Nabi with Meenu Gaur and Fawzia Mirza. It features the works of budding filmmakers Danial Afzal, Sabeeh Ahmad, Salman Alam Khan, Areeba Naveed, Imran Sajid, Mahnoor Zaidi, Marya Javed, Vicky Zhuang Yi-Yin, Awais Gohar, Sarah Aminuddin, Sunil Shanker, Fawad Khan, Ibrahim Azmat Rana, Sana Jafri, Fatimah Sattar, and Fazal Ahmad.
The theme of the festival is ‘Being Yourself: The Right to Love’. The young filmmakers and their mentors have come together to explore what it means to have the right to love. Their films aim to make the audience laugh, cry and contemplate the nature of love in its many forms. They not only celebrate gender diversity, inclusivity and acceptance, but also to celebrate the love of filmmaking as a form of storytelling.
The Poster for Butt Karahi (Left), The Poster for No Beloved (Center), The Poster for Happy Marriage (Right)
The organizers emphasized the power of film and story to elicit deep feelings, and allow us to venture into spaces both familiar and alien to the audience. Such feelings and instances reflect our lives, perceptions and society at large. Films have the power to hold society accountable by dealing with unconventional themes, but also connect people through the experience of watching a piece of art.
These ideas are a part of Olomopolo’s wider aim for community building and enhancing the value of visual and performing arts in Pakistan. Since its inception, OLOMOPOLO has been producing various projects to empower vulnerable and underrepresented segments of society in telling their stories, including women, the transgender community, the differently abled young creators and children. Their goal is to create projects and activities that support, empower, and propagate an open-minded culture of dialogue and discourse through art.
A Still from Four Fifty Five mL
Promos and posters for films on Olomopolo’s social media boast a diverse array of filmmaking techniques, characters and stories. Stories include ‘Dear Dad’, which focuses on a son’s last confrontation with his father before his father’s imminent death, while ‘Four Fifty Five mL’ finds a middle-aged transgender woman rushing to donate blood to a critically ill boy with a rare blood group. Noted director Sarmad Khoosat will also premier ‘Butt Karahi’, a tale of a father and son attempting to bond over Sunday brunch, and Olomopolo’s co-founder Vicky Zhuang Yi-Yin will feature ‘Hijr (Separation)’ about a family coming to terms with a death of one of their own.
A Still from Hijr (Separation)
Festival Director Kanwal Khoosat said, “Not only are we seeing 20 different perspectives of the filmmakers, but we are also seeing 20 different teams working on projects that break stereotypes, that question what is normal, invite diversity and evoke emotional responses to wonder what right to love and being yourself could mean.”
A Still from 'Next Scene'
Those interested in the diverse lineup and exciting opportunity to watch original films by upcoming Pakistani directors may find something in the ‘Char Chaukay Bees’ virtual film festival and fellowship, which resonates with them even after the end of the festival. The films will be showcased online between 2nd April and 11th April, and the films will be streamed on the link below. For more details, please check Olomopolo’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
'The Link to the Film Festival'
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