‘Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor’ bags yet another international award

Uzair Zaheer Khan’s animated film won Best Feature at South Asian International Film Festival

In another great step for Pakistan’s animation industry, children’s film Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor has been named the Best Feature Film at the recent South Asian International Film Festival. The award is based on what the audience’s demands.

The team behind Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor made the big announcement on the film’s social media pages. “Congratulations, everyone! It gives us great pleasure to make Pakistan so proud! We’d like to thank everyone for all the love and support!” read the post uploaded by them.

Written and directed by Uzair Zaheer Khan, Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor is a full-length animated feature film set in the northern areas of Pakistan. It revolves around the young Allahyar (voiced by Anum Zaidi) who finds himself escaping a hunter name Manu (Ali Noor) and helping a Markhor named Mehru (Natasha Humera Ejaz) reach home.

With this storyline, Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor aimed to teach children the importance of wildlife preservation – a topic rarely paid much heed in Pakistan. The indigenous storyline, localised characters and commendable animation and graphics rendered it a must-watch for youngsters across the country.

However, this is not the first time that the film is being recognised internationally. Just last month, Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor received the Prestigious Monolith Award for Content and for “celebrating a story advanced by technology.”

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