Lamha to premier at NYC Fest 2012

KARACHI:

On July 3, Bodhicitta Works, in association with Ice Animations, announced that the world premier of Pakistani feature film Lamha will take place at the annual New York City International Film Festival (NYCIF), being held in Manhattan’s Time Square from August 9 to August 16. The Pakistani feature film, produced by Meher Jaffri and Summer Nicks, has been officially selected to screen in a competition taking place at the festival.

This year, the NYCIF committee received 2,500 film entries from across the globe, out of which 178 will be screened; only 20 of those films will take part in the competition. “The entire team is extremely thankful and excited about their chances,” said Jaffri.

Lamha (publicised as Seedlings in English internationally) is a Pakistani feature film starring Aamina Sheikh, Mohib Mirza and Gohar Rasheed. The film, which completed production in Karachi in June 2012, has been directed by newcomer Mansoor Mujahid and revolves around the lives of three individuals bound together by a devastating accident. An intricately woven story of loss, forgiveness and redemption, Lamha explores the terrifying prospects of piecing together a broken life.

“As French poet Lamartine wrote ‘There is one missing and the whole world is empty’: the movie is about how to overcome this emptiness,” said Festival Director of NYCIFF Roberto Rizzo about Lamha.

The music of the film, composed by musical prodigy Usman Riaz is said to be a work of art in itself. The 21-year old, fresh off the 2012 TEDGlobal Conference, composed the musical score of the film, featuring vocals by Zoe Viccaji. The rest of the film comprises of classic songs by the renowned Mehdi Hasan in tribute to the late ghazal singer. The young musicians working on this film, Usman Riaz and Zoe Viccaji, have both been nominated in the musical categories of the Lux Style Awards this year.

Lamha, which will have its world premiere at the NYCIF, is intended to release theatrically in Pakistan later this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2012.