Ever since Shoaib Mansoor’s Khuda Kay Liye came out back in 2007, there have been talks of Pakistan’s cinema being revived but today, that sentence is debated over. Is the industry still ‘reviving’? Many are of the opinion that our industry is trying to strand back up and is still in the process of revival, while others claim that our industry should be considered revived when 3 major films are released on the same weekend (Actor-in-Law, Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hai, Janaan). Focus PK’16 should hopefully end this debate because it goes to prove that our film industry should now be taken seriously.
It is an extremely exciting time for anyone involved in the world of film, TV, radio, or music because Pakistan is hosting it’s first ever production and entertainment conference this year, which will be a two day event held on the 3rd and 4th of December. According to the organization itself, the conference will offer “professionals and students the unique opportunity to gain tremendous knowledge and in-depth understanding from the multi-billion dollar Pakistani entertainment industry.”
What adds credibility to this platform is its association with regulatory bodies such as The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FPCCI), Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) and Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) amongst many others.
Spearheaded by Atiqa Odho, Chairperson of FPCCI – Standing Committee for Production and Entertainment (SPCE), the conference will further witness a long list of well established names of our entertainment industry. For instance, the core team of the event includes Angeline Malik, Sarmad Khoosat and Iram Parveen Bilal.
The 2 day conference will be divided into multiple segments and panels of discussions which feature a range of topics concerned with print, digital and electronic media. The first day will see discussions on the following topics: censorship policies, the need for film festivals, scripting and storytelling (this is something our industry desperately needs to work on), the difference between parallel and commercial cinema, music and theatre.
The second day will host other various discussions on topics such as investments and discrimination, audio engineering, the use of foreign content amongst others.
Other famous speakers include Ali Safina, Maria Wasti, Imran Aslam, Seema Taher Khan, Vasay Chaudhry, Zohaib Kazi, Nadeem Baig, Sheema Kirmani, Syed Noor and Sultana Siddiqui.
