BERLIN: The Berlin film festival, which comes to an end on Saturday, made a piece of cinema history earlier this week when it screened its first feature film produced entirely by Pakistan.
Director Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’s “Lali” had its world premiere Thursday at a packed screening where it was warmly received by members of Berlin’s own Pakistani community, including the country’s ambassador to Germany.
The Punjabi black comedy tells the story of Sajawal (Channan Hanif) and his new girlfriend Zeba (Mamya Shajaffar).
Locals in their working-class part of the town of Sahiwal whisper that Zeba lives under a curse after her previous suitors died under mysterious circumstances.
Khoosat said AFP that Pakistan’s debut at the festival came with “a good sense of achievement, but also responsibility.”
He said it’s a “validating sign” to achieve recognition with a story “deeply rooted in their own language.”
Part of that language is the boisterous humor that the Punjab region is known for, portrayed in part through Sajawal’s mother, the towering matriarch Sohni Ammi.
The film begins with her encouraging the neighborhood men to fire guns to celebrate Sajawal’s wedding, only for her to be shot in the leg.
‘New generation’ of filmmakers
Biting humor alternates with more serious themes such as desire, sexuality and unhealed trauma and occasional suggestions of magic and the supernatural.
Although Khoosat noted that nothing that happens on screen is physically impossible.
That film tells the story of a man who falls in love with the trans director of a dance group and received critical acclaim, as well as the Jury Prize and the “Queer Palm” at Cannes.
Khoosat was a producer on that film and Sadiq, in turn, worked as an editor on “Lali.”
Is Khoosat hopeful that such films can raise the profile of Pakistani cinema?
He said the industry in Pakistan has been struggling and suffering a “sort of semi-gradual demise” for the last 20 years or so.
“Before that, we had a huge film scene… that produced, you know, over 100 films a year.”
But Khoosat said Pakistani cinema has struggled to stand out from other media and does not “cater to a newer audience.”
Could films like “Lali” bring newfound recognition to Pakistani cinema?
“This opportunity for visibility on such platforms…I just wish that, you know, it translates into a more prosperous domestic film industry,” Khoosat said.
“There is definitely a whole new generation of filmmakers and we need to make it easier for them to produce more work.”
