Women Day movies: Punjab University boys impress jury

Violence, domestic abuse, honour crime, denial of civil rights highlighted.

LAHORE:

Six short films and documentaries were screened at the Ali Institute of Education on Thursday to mark the 100th International Women’s Day.

The event was arranged by  Shirkat Gah, an NGO working for women’s rights,

The films, prepared over a period of 60 days, revolved around issues like violence against women, domestic abuse, honour crime, restrictions on mobility and work, denial of civil rights and forced marriages.

Students from the Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and Beaconhouse National University (BNU) were among the finalists.

The finalist entries, two each from BNU and LCWU and one each from LUMS and PU, were earlier sent to the jury comprising Lala Rukh, Farida Shaheed, Madiha Gohar, Asif Ali Pota, Armaghan Hassan and Haroon Taha, who judged them for concept, understanding, technique, direction and sound.

A team of three students from PU won and got the Rs100,000 cash prize. Their documentary titled Decade was based on a report from a village near Sharaqpur where women were not allowed to go outside their homes or work. It showed how the efforts of a determined woman from among them brought a change to the village by persuading the women to stand up for their rights for themselves and the future of their children. The PU team of Atif, Omer and Iqbal, said that it took them 25 days to complete the film.

The LCWU stood runner ups for their film Apna Haq Pehchano. It was on the women’s right to inherit property.

Shirkat Gah’s Fauzia Waqar hoped that some of the enlightened youth will pursue movie-making as a career.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2011.