A budding filmmaker from Pakistan
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Heyyy,
I am Iqran (27) a budding filmmaker, photographer, and screenwriter from Karachi, Pakistan. Currently, I am in Brussels, Belgium doing a master's in Documentary film direction. I got selected for the Erasmus Mundus program, DocNomads Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree (EMJMD) in Documentary Film direction. It is a two-year-long fully funded international graduate program offered by three European universities across three countries ULHT - Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias in Portugal, Színház- és Filmművészeti Egyetem in Hungary, and LUCA School of Arts in Belgium. Even though the program is fully funded, I still need some help to survive in Europe and make impactful films. I am raising funds for a film camera and a computer for editing my films.
A brief introduction to my work:
I completed my undergraduate in Communication and Design from Habib University in 2019. I won the best thesis award for my thesis film "Aadat". Aadat is a short film that focuses on male sex workers in Karachi. It also explores queer life and sheds light on the institutional oppression of the queer community in Pakistan. The film was screened at many international film festivals and won several awards at home and abroad. The film is available on YouTube and is free to watch.
Link to the film: https://youtu.be/1ib-oP3v-WY
Attitude interview: https://attitude.co.uk/article/award-winning-pakistani-lgbtq-short-film-takes-unflinching-look-at-gay-life-in-south-asia-1/24320/?cmpredirect
Review by GaysiFamily, India: https://gaysifamily.com/2021/01/07/aadat-a-portrayal-of-sexual-awakening-in-a-conservative-religious-state/
Awards:
The Merit Award at Best shorts competition, USA.
Special Jury Mention at Indus Valley International Film Festival, India.
Runner-up award at EACPE awards, Pakistan.
Best Thesis Award, Communication, and Design, Habib University, Pakistan.
Official Selection:
Best shorts competition, USA.
Thessaloniki international LGBT Film Festival, Greece.
Indus Valley International Film Festival, India.
LGBTQ Shorts Film Festival, USA.
QueerBee LGBT film festivals, UK.
As a photographer, I am interested in architecture photography. I focus on the aesthetics of the building; the windows and the corridors grab my attention the most. Using natural light, I try to play with sharp shadows. My recent project “The dying cinema” is a photo series on the fading single-screen cinemas in Karachi. It is about the Venus cinema in Lalukhet trying to cater to a specific class of the public that does not have access to expensive multiplexes and to provide them with low-cost entertainment. For me, exploring this cinema and its surroundings was like exploring a secret city within Karachi. In a time of high-rise buildings like Bahria Icon Tower, photographers are capturing the city from a long distance to present Karachi as an ideal urban center of Pakistan. This project shifts the focus from the surface and outer skin of the city to closed public spaces i.e. old single-screen cinemas. This photo series captures the audience of the cinema and their relationship with it and tries to document the space in disrepair. The project gives us a chance to reflect on the new multiplex cinemas, their existence, and how they are being built. Old single-screen cinemas used to have different floors for different people, but everybody could watch the same movie under the same roof whereas the new multiplex is not open to people from a lower social class. The building does not only tell us about the architectural styles of the time but also how we, as a society, are evolving. The project also includes a soundscape that consists of excerpts of interviews with the cinema staff and old loud Punjabi movies being played in the cinema hall.
Link to the project:
Links to some other photography projects:
Makli photographs in Dawn:
The city of lights-The Zaal- Photographs
Link to this social media profile:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/iqranrasheed
Instagram: www.instagram.com/iqranrasheed
Photography page: www.instagram.com/naqshots
Feel free to reach out if you want to connect.
Thank you.
Organizer
Iqran Rasheed Mehar
Organizer
Brussels, BRU