With cinema in Pakistan gaining momentum, it has given a platform to budding filmmakers to experiment with the medium with an aim to hit the highest mark and get their talent recognized globally. The latest to do so is SZABIST student Tahira Tahir, and her team whose film has been selected at the Cannes Film Festival.
Selected for the Short Film Corner, Tahir’s documentary Bhit Shah Ja Faqeer is a short narrative on the Faqeers (disciples) of Sindhi-Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. It explores life at his Shrine in Pakistan’s province of Sindh, as well as the status of women in his poetry and his disciples’ understanding of it.
The film is the only Pakistani entry this year in any category at the coveted film festival.
Previously, two Pakistani short films have been selected for the event, Masters of the Sky in 2014, and What a Waste! in 2016, respectively.
The 71st annual Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to be held from 8 to 19 May 2018.
