Written by: Mahnaz Shujrah
Posted on: April 01, 2022 | 
| 中文
Wajahat Rauf, Ali Rehman, Hania Aamir and Shazia Wajahat Rauf promoting their upcoming film 'Parde Main Rehne Dou'
FILUMS is an international film festival hosted by LUMS Media Arts Society (LMA) for more than a decade now. The 11th rendition of the event took place this week at Alhamra, Mall Road from March 29th to 30th. After two years of lockdown and restrictions, the film festival came back with a bang, bringing together artists, celebrities and fans.
Audience in Alhamra Hall
The two-day event was spread in a manner where films were being screened during the first half of the day, followed by film-making related workshops by established individuals: such as Umar Riaz, Biya Shadhab, Adeel Hashmi, Nirmal Bano and Muhammad Ali. The evening consisted of large scale meet and greet the cast for upcoming film promotions. The films being promoted at FILUMS included Barwaan Khiladi, Dam Mastam, Inspector Bulla, and the much-awaited Parde Main Rehne Do, starring Hania Aamir and Ali Rehman. Social events were also central to the festival, and there were performances by Sultans the Band, Karak Khel, Awais Ali and a concert by Young Stunners. The event this year was different in this respect that it included multiple art forms and mediums of expression, for instance the performance by The Colony and a stand-up comedy session.
Young Stunners
Whilst social events are an enjoyable part of the event, the core element of a film festival remain the film submissions. There were multiple categories open for both local and international submissions: Short Film, Animation, Short Documentary, Long Documentary, Music Video and Feature Film. The external judges for the event were Mo Naqvi (Mohammad Ali Naqvi), Arafat Mazhar, Hamza Bangash and Jawad Sharif.
Co-Directors of the Technical department of FILUMS, Adil Rahim and Raahim Nadeem, shared details about the variety of films submitted. “We received approximately 400 submissions, out of which two-third were international submissions, including 20 to 25 feature films. Sheer Qorma (2021), a qualifying film for the BAFTA Film Awards, was also submitted to FILUMS. Additionally, we were pleased to receive a lot of submissions from Iran, which is producing world class cinema, and their submissions reflected the depth and maturity of their craft”
After the internal and external shortlisting process, around twenty films were selected for screening at the festival, which were then sent to the censor board for clearance. Pakistan generally has relatively conservative censorship norms, but luckily the films made it through the process smoothly. The co-directors shared some of the films which caught the attention of the judges, as well as the audience. Amongst these was “SSHH”, a film based around the taboo topic of harassment, and it received a genuine response from the audience. It is directed by Saad Raheel Khan and animated by Aghna Aftab. On the other hand, a captivating film which caught my attention was “Sensual Pill”. It is a work of high art, which encapsulates the theme of decay and progression of civilization. Sensual Pill was a Greek submission in the animated short category, made by a creator known as “Sam3” through images captured completely on Google Earth Pro, with a duration of approximately four minutes.
Children of Wild Orchid, directed by Farshad Mohammadi
A unanimous favorite from the festival submissions was “Children of Wild Orchid”, a short film about child labor and the internal lives of children from poverty-ridden communities. It was directed by Farshad Mohammadi, a well-known DOP (director of photography) who has worked with some of Iran’s biggest filmmakers. Another noteworthy submission, which won the award for Best Short Film- Local, was “Parwaz Dar Shab” (Flying in Darkness). Directed by Safar Ali Danish, the film is about a young, orphaned girl trying to run a vegetable stall by herself in Quetta. Raahim Nadeem talked about one of his favorite films at the festival, “Miniaturist of Junagadh”, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Rasika Dugal. “The film is set during the time of Partition, and the presentation of the story is very original, while the cinematography and sound design of the film is of a high quality.”
Parwaz Dar Shab, a film directed by Safar Ali Danish and 'The Miniaturist of Junagadh', a film by Kaushal Oza
During the session, “Lights, Camera…Music: An Exploration of Music Video Sets”, I found the insights shared by Hamza Bin Tahir and Umer Farooq very valuable. Tahir, an NCA graduate, shared his career path as a filmmaker. He discussed how five years ago, he was a participant at FILUMS, and his film La Haasil won the awards that year. While today he was participating in the same event as a panelist, having worked with some of the most popular artists, bands, and brands. He is constantly exploring new avenues and encouraged the audience to do the same. “I’m now delving into sound design and engineering, because the deeper you go into film-making, the more you realize that half of the film experience is sound.” Umer Farooq also added to this, and said that as a singer and musician, he realized the value of music videos as a medium of creative expression. Music videos are often overlooked by aspiring film-makers, but the panelists urged enthusiasts to take this platform more seriously, for it allows one to find a distinctive voice and allows room for versatility.
Umer Farooq and Hamza Bin Tahir
The convenor of FILUMS, Ariana Kamal, a third-year English major at LUMS, discussed how there were countless challenges of planning such a large-scale, student-led event after two years of everything being online. “Our team did not have the experience of executing events in person due to the lockdown, but we didn’t let that become a hurdle. We instead used the pandemic as a learning experience and altered our marketing and promotions strategies. The era of Covid-19 has taught us that anything is possible and within reach, so we used the experience we gained in online networking to our advantage.” She found that creative industries and people flourish through exposure and collaboration. “Despite all our differences, the one thing bounding us together was our love for film.” The FILUMS team plans to hold interactive workshops and sessions round the year to keep the momentum of the event going, besides the two-day event of the festival, and hope to make films and film-making more accessible and inclusive.
Sensual Pill
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