The anima of independent filmmaking in Pakistan

Director Hammad says although his film couldn't be screened in Pakistan, it made it to several international festivals

KARACHI:

The Second Floor (T2F) sustained its tradition of promoting local independent artists by screening Hammad Khan’s Anima State at their premises on Thursday.

Hosted by the lead actor of the film, Uns Mufti, the screening of the film was followed by a series of questions and answers with the director of the production, Hammad Khan via Skype.



The movie follows the story of a man, with his face covered in bandages who goes on a killing spree across Islamabad. The film opens with the protagonist (Uns Mufti) killing five youngsters picnicking in the city. The bandaged man then goes to a police officer and confesses to his crime and asks to be handcuffed and arrested.

The police officer pays no heed to his confession and the bandaged murderer soon comes to the conclusion that his actions have no repercussions in the country. Left with only one option, the protagonist decides to go on live television with the intention of committing suicide on air.



Speaking to audience members, post the screening of the film, from London, Khan said he had “no expectations” from the movie as he never anticipated the film to release against more commercial flicks like Na Maloom Afraad and Dukhtar.

Anima State was unable to see the light of day in Pakistani cinemas due to the Censor Board of Pakistan requesting the director to tone down the film and edit a few gruesome sections — an action the director refused to take.

Khan shared that despite being unable to exhibit the film in local cinemas, the film has already been screened in various film festival across the world, including in New York, Toronto, Seattle and Norway to name a few.



He further added, “I am a little disappointed that the film was unable to be screened in festivals like Tribeca and Berlin despite being appreciated by the festival organisers, justifying that they wouldn’t be able to programme the movie into the event.”

About why he chooses to make such graphic and violent films rather than crafting something more commercial, Khan reasoned, “I am a filmmaker and it is my responsibility to tell stories and I want to narrate stories that appeal to me.”

Regardless of criticism, he does not rule out the possibility of taking on more mainstream work in the future, saying, “I think I would like to use style and images in cinema that have a wider appeal. I generally don’t decide upon these things until I have a script in hand.”

To a query about why Khan decided to shoot the climax of the film in English whilst the rest of the movie had been predominantly shot in Urdu, he responded, “I felt that the performance of the female character was being compromised when she was delivering her dialogues in Urdu so we decided to stick to English.”

He concluded by requesting people to support Pakistani cinema and other artists, saying, “You can’t be an artist in any society unless that society lifts you up and responds to your work.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2015.

Like Life & Style on Facebook, follow @ETLifeandStyle on Twitter for the latest in fashion, gossip and entertainment.