PIFF’s Women Edition concludes on a high after three days!

HIP IN PAKISTAN: PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - WOMEN’S EDITION
Published 14 Jun, 2021 05:42pm

Women are an integral part of our society, and Karachi Film Society’s Pakistan International Film Festival celebrated their achievements in a three-day festival held in Karachi’s Frere Hall over the weekend. The event was attended by Karachi’s elite as well as Federal and Provincial Ministers, the Governor as well as the many TV actors and actresses who have dazzled the audience over the years.

However the panel discussions on all three days were the biggest draw of the festival where successful people gave advice to youngsters, spoke their minds, and offered the solution to the many problems faced by the entertainment industry. On the first day, a panel discussion moderated by journalist Kamran Jawaid revolved around ‘What is Stopping Our Films from Growing Internationally?’, and the panelists tried to give their two cents about the issue.

The most vocal amongst all panelists was Sheikh Amjad Rasheed, Chairman IMGC Group which is one of the leading film production and distribution groups in Pakistan, and he directed most of his questions to the Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, Senator Faisal Javed Khan who was in attendance. Not only did Sheikh Amjad Rasheed blamed the government for not considering entertainment industry important, he asked them to simplify things for the cinema industry before it’s too late.

Selina Rashid, CEO of Lotus PR, Irfan Malik, Head of ARY Films, and Omer H. Paracha, executive producer of international film Echo Boomers also spoke their mind and tried to find out the reasons behind Pakistani films slow growth in the international market. They also discussed the low return of investment, quality of films, government facilitation, the need to experiment with various genres of film-making and upgrading filmmaking technology and equipment.

On the second day of the festival, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry attended a session titled Covid-19: Challenges & Opportunities, Understanding the ‘New Normal’ where filmmaker and Senator (r) Javed Jabbar, Director of PNCA Dr. Fouzia Saeed, former MD of OUP and founder of Adab Festival Ameena Saiyid; as well as the founder of Charter for Compassion Pakistan Amin Hashwani, CEO of HUM Network Ltd Duraid Qureshi and filmmaker Fizza Ali Meerza were the panelists.

The panel discussed issues and challenges related to Pakistani films and entertainment industry post-covid-19, the portrayal of women in Pakistani media, access of the lower and middle class to the cinema, the need to establish a digital entertainment platform and challenges in adapting to the new normal since Covid-19.

On the final day, a panel discussion on Gender Stereotypes in Media and What are Women Doing About It? was held that was moderated by Tazeen Hussain, the former actor and head of the Department of Communication Design at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. Her panelists included Sultana Siddiqui, President KFS & HUM Network Ltd; Atiqa Odho, Chairperson of FocusPK, and a renowned actress, Madam Sangeeta, who has directed many Pakistani films, and Tasneem Ahmar, head of UKS Research Centre- a gender-based media advocacy and monitoring organization.

Together, they discussed and addressed the discrimination persisting against women in the media industry. Atiqa Odho said that although these issues do exist in our industry one has to be strong, persistent, and vocal about all kinds of discrimination. She also said it was her co-actors (men) who helped her in the field at the beginning of her career.

Sultana Siddiqui added that men and women should learn to co-exist if they want to succeed while they also spoke about the need to change the mindset of the masses through realistic portrayals of strong and successful women characters, changes required in PEMRA laws, and the need to establish strong, independent association to protect the rights of women in media.

The three-day event concluded with a closing speech by KFS founding member Ameena Saiyid whereas it was attended by renowned actors and actresses who want to see Pakistan’s film industry prosper. The celebrities who graced the event included Zeba Bakhtiar, Saife Hasan, Rehan Sheikh, Farhan Ally Agha, Shafaat Ali, Bushra Ansari, Amena Khan, besides the many panelists who enthralled the public with their advice.