Written by: Nayha Jehangir Khan
Posted on: December 23, 2022 | 
| 中文
(L to R) Tabish Habib, Rasti Farooq and Ali Junejo
We are witnessing an evolution of film as an art form and at the frontline of this change are passionate filmmakers like Tabish Habib. He worked as the Associate Producer on Joyland and directed a short film May I Have This Seat? in 2020, which has been widely recognised across Europe, Asia and North America. Habib is currently based in Lahore and teaches Film at the Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies (CLCS) at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). The following interview maps out Habib’s journey into becoming a filmmaker, and his commitment to positively impacting the future of Pakistan cinema:
Tabish Habib at Cannes
TH:While living in Islamabad as a teenager, I had a keen interest in the arts but there weren't any dedicated programs for it at school. After-school hours were spent with the underground music community. Music remains my first love and its visualisation became a form of self-expression. I started out with small music videos and photography. While my parents lived in New York I grew up loving films, as my father was a huge film aficionado and managed D.W. Griffith Theatre there. While I was attending the University of San Francisco for a Bachelor’s in Business, I took a film elective and the class professor encouraged me to pursue Media as my major. Back then, I produced a short film and submitted it for Film Festivals which ended up winning two awards, and that was the initial encouragement I needed at age 19. I decided to pursue it professionally, and worked as an audio visual (AV) technician in San Francisco for about a year. When I returned to Pakistan, I accepted positions in TV channels but eventually decided to form my own production company with a few close friends, exclusively working on music videos. This was a pivotal moment for me as an artist, as it allowed my creativity to grow. I would take on commercial and corporate documentaries, but felt that directing was my true calling.
Shooting of 'May I Have This Seat' (Picture credits to Tabish Habib)
TH: Working in Pakistan as a filmmaker is educational, as there are no formal academies for film-making, while specialisation is learned on the job. I always create multiple plans of action working with production crews from anywhere in the world. When I worked on Joyland, our crew was excellent and we were ready to deal with executing plans C&D because plans A&B did not pan out. The better the pre-production planning, the better you are able to work with available resources on the ground.
My Media Studies minor was an introduction to the world of film-making, and a lot of what I learned whether that be in the US or Pakistan, was through practice. It was when I did my Master's in Film & Television Production at MetFilm School, Ealing Studios, London, which was established in 1905, I received formal education on all aspects of filmmaking and production. The guidance I received was from the legends of the industry. There were seven modules that had to be completed in 14 months in both theory and studio practice. Some focused on writing, while others on making a web series or commercial work. Even though my strength is editing, I felt confident doing all of the above. Christopher Nolan has a very interesting take on this: He says “The reason I became a director was that I wasn't really very good at one specific thing. I wasn't the best cinematographer, but I knew about cinematography. I wasn't the best sound recorder, but I knew about sound recording”. When I heard this about Nolan, it reminded me of myself and decided that I was cut out to be a director, as I wanted to immerse myself in all aspects of filmmaking.
Tabish (first from right) at MetFilm School, 2019
On a film project, I play a variety of roles simultaneously and it comes down to what the project requires. The environment of the Joyland production invited discussions on the direction and wasn't intended to be a mechanically focused role, but encouraged working as a team. Film-making can be very unforgiving and you have to work as a team in order to find synergy between all the various film departments at work. There's the Direction Department, Set Design, Sound and so on. In that sense, you have to handle it with a lot of care. Looking back on all the sets I've been on in the last 11 years as a film-maker, teamwork is the most crucial element in making a film.
TH: It's coming out on Omeleto very soon, which is a digital platform for short films. It's about a young pregnant woman named Sonia, who is travelling on a public bus, enroute to see the doctor. The story journeys with her on this ride surrounded by men and she feels very, very uncomfortable in this situation. The film takes a closer look at how women navigate their way through threatening social situations. When these issues are tackled with nuance and sensitivity, it triggers important conversations.
Poster of 'May I Have This Seat'
TH: Narrative fiction storytelling, script writing and filmmaking are great ways of understanding the world around you. When a relevant theme replaces predictable formulaic plotlines, that theme can be trans rights or women's empowerment or minority genocide. I encourage looking at themes through a lens of a witness to understand the environment. Our cinema is heavily focused on commercial projects, which are important to entertain the public, but when we show them the truth about society, that's more intriguing than anything else. We're a social culture of drawing rooms and public dhabas, where people are constantly sharing stories. Films based on real life experiences are the kind of movies I want to see in the future. An integral component of my film-making practice comes from an ability to perceive my dreams that then actively shape visuals and stories. I prefer the film reel over digital 4K crispness for its grainy visualization, but also because it creates a metaphor of a mirror image of reality where fictional characters become accessible and relatable.
Tabish Habib and Iman Shahid during the shooting of 'Widow'
TH: Historically, in Pakistan music videos have paved the way for commercially successful directors. For film-makers, it's a great way to hone your craft and find your vision. For musicians, it's an absolutely fundamental way of distributing their music. When I direct music videos, I am the writer, the editor and the listener, which creates visual harmony for me. Shorbanoor and I had been conceptualising this video for a couple of months before shooting it. Samarkand House is a beautiful place but because it was uninhabited, it quickly became terrifying. We had been marinating on a diet of a lot of horror films like Jordan Peele’s films, so we quickly took that direction for the music video. While sharing our experiences of nightmares visually translated into an environment on screen. My main goal is to enhance the experience of music listening.
‘Widow’ by Shorbanoor featuring Iman Shahid
Tabish Habib is selective about his projects, and in a short span of time has created his own path in film-making. His work is reflective about identity politics and society, which has been consistently visible in his diverse repertoire of film and video.
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