Project 11: A new age thriller

KARACHI:

Eleven directors from 11 cities around the world have collaborated on Project 11, a film they describe as a ‘new age thriller’. Project 11 follows 11 global gamers, all engrossed in playing the same online game to such an extent that they fall prey to death.

Filmed in 11 cities around the world, each of these 11 separate  pieces threads into one story, and during the course of the film, the plot jumps from one city to another.

The Project Director of Project 11 — due to be released internationally on November 11,2011 (11.11.11) —  is Vikhas Chandra, whose previous film credits include working on Aamir Khan’s Ghajini (2008) and a short film, Kavi, which was nominated in the 2010 Oscars.

Pakistan is also a part of the international collaboration. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Chandra said, “The way Pakistan got featured in ‘Project 11’ is an interesting story. Initially, I had wanted a place like Kabul to be one of the 11 cities featured in the film. Around the same time, I had launched the project on Facebook, asking interested film-makers to get in touch. Within a few days of the launch, I got several feelers from directors in Pakistan, writing in to ask why their country wasn’t on the list. Ali Ahmed Brohi was one such director.”

Besides Pakistan, other countries in the film are, India, Tanzania, China, Canada, Japan, UK, Israel, Luxemburg, and the US, which is repesented twice, in the form of two different cities.

Brohi, who has been chosen from Pakistan, says, “I love collaborations! This project seemed something very different and something bigger than I have already done.” His previous work includes short film Innocent Dreams, which won praise internationally.

“This has been made for the love of cinema”, says Brohi. “This idea of working with 11 like-minded people at an international level, seemed like a great opportunity for me. The story is and very well structured. It connects different characters from 11 cities around the world in a powerful manner.”

Our part [in Pakistan] of the story takes place in a mountainous areas. So we decided to travel to Baluchistan to shoot our film there. We selected our characters from Baluchistan, so that people over there are given chance at an international level.”

Chandra asserts, “As the writer of the film, I have tried to touch upon local flavours of all the cities the film is based in, be it Dar es Salaam, New York or Tel Aviv and I am particularly very happy the way the Pakistani portion of Project 11 is shaping up.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2011.