Mini-Input film seminar concludes

Two films from Best of Budapest 2010 and one from Pakistani filmmaker Namrah Fareed screened.

KARACHI: The fifth Mini-Input (International Public Television) concluded, at the Goethe Institut’s auditorium, yesterday, with the screening of two films from the Best of Budapest 2010 and one from a Pakistani filmmaker.

24h Berlin-A Day in the Life is a 24-hour short-film about the people living in Berlin. A 40-minute extract from the film was screened here in Karachi, bringing a rare glimpse of  Berliners. Director Volker Heise managed to captivate the non-Berliners as well.

Namrah Fareed’s Fading Strokes featured the rich heritage of Pakistani cinemas’ billboard art,which is now fading away. Fareed, who was present among the audience, shared why she chose  this particular topic, “I really miss old Karachi. Old billboards were artistic, that was a heritage. I believe it’s an art form. Others might think it is cheesy. Most of the artists involved in this business are gravely suffering on financial lines for the art has almost died with the birth of panaflex business.”

William Gilcher, the moderator of the event said, “I loved the visual work.  Fareed has a nice sense of visualisation which should be appreciated.”

A Hungarian production titled Breathe In was a story based on a man’s obsession with swimming and how he tries to undermine the credibility of another man who swims faster. Soon we see that the rivalry between the two ends up in a feud leading to a mindless murder. Director Mark Bodzsar’s work “was intense and showed the egocentric personality of the man,” said Gilcher.

Input is a week-long screening conference held annually. Last year, it was organised in Budapest, Hungary and this year it will take place in Seoul, South Korea.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2011.