London-based director Nauman Khalid’s self-funded short film One-way Glass has been screening worldwide on the festival circuit. It has been shown at festivals in Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, Mumbai, Birmingham, Manchester, Islamabad, and the National College of Arts in Lahore.
The 16-minute short explores the lived experience of the South Asian diaspora and issues of economic migrancy, gender, sexuality and class.
The female protagonist, Farzana (Amna Khalid), is a hapless Pakistani migrant who is trapped in a violent and loveless marriage. She spends her days at home with her husband, Habib (Noah Butt), an unemployed immigrant. She wears floral clothes and bangles, and cooks food only to get scolded by her husband. At night, she works at an adult store to make ends meet.
Farzana is leading a double life; she is an Urdu digest reader who puts flowers in her braid and also a woman who dresses up in a shimmery sweater with a short-hair wig smoking a cigarette. As her life gradually drowns in this routine, she catches the attention of a white male native from Britain, Tom (Steve Aaron-Sipple), who works at a massage parlour across the street from her workplace. Things take a turn when she spots her good-for-nothing husband at the parlour one day.
The double life of Farzana
Staying true to its title, the protagonist’s life is also like a one-way glass. It is very transparent on one side while reflective on the other. The short puts a third-world female protagonist at its center and shows how she takes control and liberates herself from the shackles of a burdensome marriage. The last frame of the short shows her unrestrained; she lets her tresses loose, puts her wig in a dumpster, smokes and walks freely in a suit on a bright sunny day.
With a few conversations in English and Punjabi, the film’s strength lies in its silences as there isn’t much dialogue to push the narrative. The frames are tight so as to build a direct connection with the character’s emotions as the secrets unravel.
The film is based on renowned Urdu writer and poet Irfan Ahmed Urfi’s short story Gudiyan Patolay from his debut collection of short stories, Paon (Feet). Irfan also has a cameo in the short film. The poster of the short is designed by Pakistani artist Ali Kazim, while Sarmad Ghafoor has collaborated for the soundtrack Chaliyay Door. It is produced by Aybuke Kavas.
Poster of One-way Glass
One-way Glass is an international project with a team of creative minds coming together from Pakistan, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Brazil, Colombia, Russia, Australia, Poland and Lithuania.
Watch the trailer here:
