Still Waters Productions proudly presented “Made in Pakistan”, a Talking Filmain documentary at a well attended and acclaimed premiere in Karachi at the Arts Council. The documentary continues with a series of nationwide screenings across Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore.
In attendance at the premiere were: Nayarra Noor and Shehryar Zaidi, Designers Sonya Battla and Shamoon Sultan, Photographer Amean J, Television Personalities Sarwat Gilani and Juggun Kazim, Music VJ Anisa Sheikh, Actress and model Sanam Saeed, Video directors Bilal Lashari, Ahmed Kazmie and Sohail Javed, Musicians Gumby, Ali Sher and Omran Shafique and Made in Pakistan’s characters Mohsin Warraich and Tara Mehmood.
As the name suggests, this hour long film is based on national events, unfolding in “The most dangerous place in the world” as labelled by the cover story that ran in Newsweek 29th Oct 2007.
Directed by Nasir Khan, the documentary is sans narrator allowing audiences to draw their own unbiased conclusions. Based in the English language, Made in Pakistan is set against the backdrop of the declaration of a state of emergency and through the lives of four characters, Khan looks to present a more cohesive image of Pakistan by offering a window into Pakistan’s educated, middle, upper and younger classes: Rabia Aamir, the working mother and journalist; the religious moderate and lawyer Waleed Khalid; Tara Mahmood an event and pr manager; and Mohsin Warraich, an aspiring politician.
This acclaimed hour-long documentary looks to present a multifaceted country and its burgeoning culture. It questions Pakistan’s myopic definition through ‘terrorism’, ‘fundamentalism and ‘extremism’. In a country where fashion, politics, religion, debate and tradition mix, where one fundamental character of an Islamic State no longer holds true, these four Pakistani individuals question the prevailing stereotype of Pakistanis existing in the media today.
Speaking about the release of Made in Pakistan, Head of Productions at Still Waters, Naad-e-Ali Zaidi has said, “Made in Pakistan brings forward Pakistan’s upper middle class in a documentary which explores the country through four individuals. It allows us to perceive this under-represented class as a realistic part of our social fabric, which despite modern misconceptions, co-exists within the same space as the stereotypes of terror and fundamentalism with which Pakistan has come to be associated. Made in Pakistan accepts that we are living amidst social, political, religious and economic unrest from one situation to another, and shows that life goes on.”
Speaking about his inspiration for the documentary, critically acclaimed director Nasir Khan has said, “Fourteen-hour load-shedding, suicide bombings by the dozen, military operations, judicial crises and assassinations. Yet we smile, we persevere. That is the spirit of Pakistan and its people. Made in Pakistan aims to reflect this characteristic through the lives of four extraordinary individuals.”
Made in Pakistan premiered in Karachi for a three day run from 31st of July till 02nd of August at the Arts Council Auditorium; it continues on till the 8th and 9th of August in Islamabad at the PNCA Auditorium and will culminate in Lahore with a special Independence Day screening, 14th August through to 18th August 2009 at Ali Institute of Education.
Still Waters Productions Presents Made in Pakistan: A Talking Filmain Documentary.