NASFF ’21: 15 winners get golden tickets to New York Film Academy Australia & you could be next

NASFF or National Amateur Short Film Festival is a fantastic initiative, that’s the bottom line. What it is, what it has achieved and what it aims to do are all pertinent questions — fret not, we’ll address all one by one.

Brainchild of DG ISPR Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar and spearheaded by Director Productions ISPR – Brigadier Imran Naqvi, NASFF – as its name suggests – was a short film competition held across Pakistan last year. Initially announced in November 2020, the film festival’s sole goal was to engage the Pakistani youth and to scout talent that can be nurtured further. To be able to do that to the best of their abilities the organizers i.e. ISPR, then engaged some of the top names of Pakistan’s film and drama industry and got them onboard as the initiative’s brand ambassadors whose jobs were not restricted to promoting NASFF but actually interacting with the participants.

DG ISPR Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar addressing the closing ceremony

Over a course of several months, Shaan Shahid, Humayun Saeed, Mahira Khan, Wahaj Ali, Bilal Abbas Khan, Iqra Aziz, Farhan Saeed, Zara Noor Abbas, Ayub Khosa, Mashal Khan & Col Qasim Shah (Gulsher of Alpha Bravo Charlie) held webinars with university students from all across the country, answered some tough & some interesting questions, mentored young boys & girls and helped several of them to understand the importance of using media tools, especially social media, to not just their advantage but also as a language to convey and communicate the true image of Pakistan.

Director Productions ISPR Brigadier Imran Naqvi addressing the closing ceremony

As a result, over 1100 entries were received from 72 universities spread across each corner of the country. A jury comprising veterans Saba Hameed, Syed Noor, Shireen Pasha and Talha Ali Khan were then entrusted with the task of shortlisting the winners. Not one or two or three, fifteen participants were selected — all as winners — who are now being sent to the New York Film Academy Australia for year-long courses in filmmaking and screenwriting. It’s important to mention that the winners have been sponsored by American multinational data and software company Afiniti which has a wing in Pakistan as well.

Back to this being a fantastic initiative. Two things now. Film festivals are fairly common not just in Pakistan but around the world. But it’s state support that proves to be a gamechanger. The ISPR was fully assisted by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting with even Prime Minister Imran Khan himself in attendance at the award ceremony for NASFF that took place in July 2021. That’s certainly very encouraging. But secondly and most importantly, NASFF wasn’t or rather isn’t a one-off event. NASFF 2022 has already been announced, in fact it was announced at another ceremony held last week in honour of the winners and their families — a sort of a farewell where the winners were yet again appreciated and encouraged. This closing ceremony was attended by DG ISPR Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry who announced that the theme of this year’s NASFF is ‘Ocean to mountains’.

Minister for Information & Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry addressing the closing ceremony

This strong commitment by the organizers to continue this project and turn it into a permanent fixture deserves not just recognition but also support because, and having attended two NASFF ceremonies and having interacted with the organizers & winners I can say this with certainty, there appears to be absolutely no agenda or motive behind it aside from nurturing raw talent and changing the media landscape in the country through inclusion of creative minds who are also formally trained. Seems to be quite a win-win for the participants and the society!

As I told you, NASFF 2022 has been announced. Keep your eyes & ears open and your creative juices flowing. Who knows, you might be the winner of the next golden ticket. Stay tuned, we will let you know when entries are open.