‘Jahan Ara’ makes it to Cannes Film Festival

Film deals with forced marriages

LAHORE: Students earned the distinction of making their way to the Cannes Film Festival 2018. Their Short Film titled ‘Jahan Ara’ has been selected for the festival.

The story of the film revolves around the concept that being enslaved into forced marriages leaves the victims with no choice but to accept the circumstances. This is an unfortunate reality for many residing in developing countries. Instead of voicing this truth, the film aims to make the audience experience the reality.

The director of the film Alizeb Raees from Beaconhouse University is currently in his final semester. He had earlier represented Pakistan in many film festivals in USA, UK, Italy, Dubai and Japan. The writer and lead actor of the film Nasir Ali Mazari has been working at theatre, film and television department of the varsity since 2012. The lead actress of the Film is Maryum Yousaf who is also working at the department.

Both Nasir Ali Mazari and Maryum Yousaf are gold medalists in film and TV production from Beaconhouse National University. Other production members of the film, including Azeem Amin, Talal Khalid, Usman Ashraf, Momna Tariq and Rab Nawaz, are also studying at BNU.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2018.