Pakistani short ‘Bench’ screened at Cannes International Independent Film Fest

Penned by Ali Mudar, 'Bench' is a dialogue centric film starring Usman Mukhtar and Rubya Chaudhry

Multitalented actor and director Usman Mukhtar had previously revealed that he will be making his Cannes debut with Bench - his directorial short film starring him alongside Rubya Chaudhry. 

The film was shortlisted for the Cannes International Independent Film Festival in September.

“With great humility, joy and pride do we announce that Bench has been selected at the first Cannes International Independent Film Festival – CIIFF,” wrote Mukhtar on Twitter. 

And just yesterday, the Embassy of Pakistan in Paris, tweeted about the screening of Mukhtar's Bench. "Pakistani short film Bench by Usman Mukhtar is being screened today at the Cannes International Film Festival taking place in France from October 18-20, 2020."

Mukhtar also retweeted the thread.

Pakistani short film "Bench" by Usman Mukhtar is being screened today at the Cannes International Film Festival taking place in France from October 18-20, 2020. 👏🎬🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/7NWoyCfoU0

— Embassy of Pakistan, Paris, France (@PakinFrance) October 20, 2020

Penned by Ali Mudar, Bench is a dialogue centric film that sees two people at crossroads coming together to figure out if they should end up apart.

Their inner conflicts are explored through the conversation between them. "The film is about two people who meet on a bench. It's a dialogue based film which takes very interesting twist and turns," Mukhtar had told The Express Tribune without dwelling into much details earlier.

Chaudhry, who plays one of the lead roles in the film, also described it as  "An intimate dialogue between two conflicted hearts, looking to find their own truth in life."

The film had previously been selected for a screening at the Independent Short Awards Los Angeles, 3rd South Asian Film Festival Kolkata, Prisma Awards in Rome and South Asian Film Festival Toronto. So CIIFF is just another feather in Mukhtar's cap.

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