Pakistani cinematographer and filmmaker Asad Faruqi, whose name surfaced with Sharmeen Obaid- Chinoy’s documentary — A Girl in the River — has now another feather in his cap. His short documentary, Call Center Blues, by Multitude Films, has been nominated for Oscars 2021 in the Documentary Short Subject category.
Geeta Gandbhir has directed the documentary which examines the lives of four characters deported from the United States. According to IMDb, Call Center Blues is a lyrical portrait of an unlikely community of US deportees and their loved ones struggling to rebuild their lives in Tijuana, Mexico.
“These characters paint a picture of love, loss and longing – for home, for an American Dream deferred, and for justice,” the South by Southwest Conference says on its website.
The documentary has been selected in several film festivals
Read: Pakistani documentary ‘Armed With Faith’ wins an Emmy
Earlier, Asad Faruqi produced, shot and directed Armed with Faith (2018) which won an Emmy Award for the Best Political and Government News and Documentary. He has also shot A Girl in the River (2016) and Saving Face (2012) besides HBO documentaries that have won Academy and Emmy awards.
Pakistan’s Taliban Generation (2009), another documentary he has filmed, took the Emmy and Alfred I. Dupont awards.
