Pakistani American filmmaker wins student BAFTA

Nyal Mueenuddin won the award for his documentary on flooding in Pakistan

A Pakistani American filmmaker, Nyal Mueenuddin, recently graduated from the University of the West of England (UWE) and has earned a student BAFTA award for his remarkable documentary work on Pakistan. His award-winning film, When the Floods Come, sheds light on the experiences of individuals impacted by devastating floods near the River Indus. The documentary triumphed over submissions from 109 educational institutions across 37 nations, as per BBC.

The impetus for Mueenuddin’s film came from the coverage of the catastrophic flooding that struck Pakistan in 2022, the worst in the country’s history. Reflecting on his childhood in South Punjab, the filmmaker shared with BBC, “I grew up in the South of Punjab, which is the main agricultural province. My village was about 30 kilometres from the Indus River. I had this beautiful childhood in that place.”

He continued, “But during the 2022 floods, which was just after my course had started, I noticed there were a couple news stories coming out in international media about what was happening in Pakistan, but really just big, broad strokes of how many people were killed, how many people were displaced. I didn’t see anything that really humanised the people of Pakistan.”

When the Floods Come was selected from a pool of 800 projects for the prestigious BAFTA award. While filming at the base camp of Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan, Mueenuddin received the news that his film had been nominated. Shortly afterward, he learned that it was among the top three finalists for the award, and just days later, he found himself in Los Angeles for the ceremony.

He highlighted the significance of his achievement, noting, “I thought it was a great achievement for a kind of storytelling that prioritises human emotion and empathy and compassion. To win the award in that way elevated the voices of Pakistanis and what’s happening in that country.”