Three Iqra University students aim at reviving tourism in Pakistan

Pakistan’s video travelogue titled ‘Gilgit in Motion’ has carved a niche for itself among the growing number of local travel diaries circulating on social media. Hammad Jawaid, an Iqra University (IU) student from Karachi and the video’s cinematographer, along with his team HJ films, has created a 2.38-minute long film capturing the picturesque landscapes of Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B). The video has received nearly 17,000 views and over 300 shares within five days of its release on Jawaid’s Facebook page.



Jawaid and his classmates, Omair Fayaz, the camera operator, and Asad Ali Khan, the video editor and the colourist, aspire to fill the lack of creative filming in the nation. While speaking to The Express Tribune, Jawaid says people believe Pakistan lacks creative talent. “We see several videos on social media every day and think of ways to execute them ourselves, but we don’t,” says Jawaid. “We took the initiative and tried to deliver our best,” he adds.

Inspired by the beauty of G-B, which is one of Pakistan’s finest tourist attractions, the amateur videographers travelled to the valley this year in May. “One of the reasons behind making this piece of art was to portray a positive [image] of Pakistan. People are scared of visiting our country, but reality is quite different from what people are shown [on media],” shares Jawaid. Through the initiative, they want to revive the tourism industry of Pakistan and they’ve embarked on this journey by filming G-B in an appealing, alluring and creative manner.



Nonetheless, executing the video in motion-picture format has been quite challenging for the students. “We made a proper plan to [implement a unique style of filming], but lacked the latest equipment. We are students and don’t have expensive lenses, camera bodies and other stuff which give better results in the end,” informs Jawaid. Despite this, the students managed to achieve their goal through collaboration, synchronisation and team understanding. In an attempt to achieve the desired format, they successfully compiled 186 shots in 158 seconds.

They aim to travel across Pakistan to promote tourism and everyone is anxiously waiting for them to reveal their next destination.