3 Pakistani films have been featured in this year’s Cannes World Film Festival. The first is “Noor” directed by Umer Aadil, the second is “Pehchaan” directed by Mohammad Ahsan, and the third is “Jalavaan” by Wajahat Malik.
The three films have been nominated in different categories, and the winners will be announced soon.
“Noor” by Umer Aadil
“Noor” is a film commissioned by the international NGO ‘Sightsavers’. The film sheds light on the issue of Uncorrected Refractive Error (URE), which affects over 4 million children in Pakistan.
The issue prevents children from learning and other opportunities in the future. However, the issue can be easily corrected if treatment is given.
Noor has been nominated in the category of Best Health Film. It stars Sarwat Gilani and Omair Rana, along with Mizna Waqas, Tanisha Shameem and Tasneem Ansari.
You can watch the film here.
“Pehchaan” by Mohammad Ahsan
“Pehchaan” is a thriller based on real events. The film is written and directed by Mohammad Ahsan. The trailer for the film shows a man arrested for what appears to be a false charge. Most details of the film are under wraps.
However, it’s nomination for Best Human Rights Film shows that it sheds light on an important issue. And with Pakistan’s abysmal track record of justice, the film has a lot to work with.
“Jalavaan” by Wajahat Malik
Perhaps the most fascinating of all the films featured in the Cannes World Film Festival from Pakistan is “Jalavaan”. It’s a documentary feature about the Sonewal, a group of nomads in the Karakoram who make their livelihoods by filtering gold from the rivers which flow down from the mountains.
They work similarly to the gold prospectors that you may have heard of in America. However, the “Gold Nomads of the Karakoram”, as the film calls them, are one of the least documented communities in the world.
Simply for that reason, this film deserves to be seen.
It has been nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category.
Keep following PakistaniCinema.Net for further updates on the Cannes World Film Festival 2023!
* = Please note that the Cannes World Film Festival has no relation to the “Festival de Cannes”, which is one of the oldest and most prestigious international film festivals in the world.
