FILM FESTIVAL: Satrangi Re!

The KaraFilm Festival is back with a bang!Filmmaking is the most totalitarian of the arts, a sort of transforming agent, which makes one wonder whether the body exists for the sake of the eyes — for it becomes a dry trunk in order to support these two soft insatiable jewels.The KaraFilm Festival is a carnival of the moving image, a grand celebration of storytelling, of films and filmmaking. Organised by a consortium of young dedicated filmmakers under the auspices of the KaraFilm Society, the festival aims at promoting and elevating the appreciation of the art and craft of filmmaking among the population. The festival encourages creativity and high standards among filmmakers with a hope that their attempt will have a constructive effect on the development of the motion picture industry in Pakistan and beyond.The highly awaited Seventh KaraFilm Festival, which was to be held in November of 2007 was postponed to the disappointment of many two years ago, due to the acts of brutal terrorism and the political upheaval in the country in general, and Karachi in particular. However, the wait is now over and after years of anticipation, the Seventh KaraFilm Festival has recently opened at the Arts Council of Pakistan in Karachi with Galantuomini, an Italian fictional feature film directed by Edoardo Winspeare.Addressing a news conference at the Press Club before the screening of the opening feature film, Hasan Zaidi, the director of the KaraFilm Festival said with great optimism, “This was our last chance at saving the credibility and popularity Kara had earned over the years all over world. Two years of political and social turmoil and ever increasing security challenges forced us to postpone the Seventh KaraFilm Festival twice, but we were certainly not ready to give up!”Immensely heartened by the loyalty of its audiences and the outpouring of support Kara has received in the last few weeks in particular, from Pakistan and abroad, he said, “times may be difficult but it is in times such as these that our determination is fully tested. But organising the festival after two years of backlog and political and economic frenzy was never going to be a piece of cake.”The festival faced some serious financial constraints due to the ongoing economical crisis, and at various points organising the event as per schedule seemed nearly impossible.The KaraFilm Society is registered as a not-for-profit, non-political, non-governmental body under the Societies Registration Act. Because both the KaraFilm Society and its events are entirely funded by private donations and sponsorships, the management had to face great difficulty initially, and so much so that they openly called for help, requesting donations from individuals who want to promote culture and the arts in Pakistan. Individual and organisational donors were acknowledged as Friends of KaraFilm and could contribute through cash, cheques, and wire transfers as well as online through various websites.“We have already decided to cancel the opening and closing ceremonies due to lack of funds”, said Hasan, adding that the festival would be held at only Arts Council and Nishat Cinema. As if being hit by rampant inflation in the country and the global economic downturn, imperilling the Festival’s financial resources wasn’t enough, that serious tensions with neighbouring India after the brutal terrorist attacks in Mumbai began to adversely affect the relationships that Kara had so carefully cultivated with them over the last six years.“Even though a lot of our Indian friends can’t make it to this year’s festival, partly because they are unwilling and partly because getting visas is rather tricky at this point, we will be screening few Indian films”, said Hassan.As far as the films are concerned, the Seventh KaraFilm Festival is said to be the biggest spectacle of films yet assembled. It seems as if their goal was to somehow compensate for the festivals absence for the past two years, for over 230 films have been included in the 12-day programme.The nearly two and a half hundred films include over 120 shorts films, over 60 documentaries and some 50 feature films that will be screened during the course of the festival. The productions cover nearly 44 countries from around the globe, including Italy, UK, Turkey, Norway, Australia, Belgium, South Korea, and Colombia amongst others.“Many of the scheduled films are award-winning productions and are premiering in Pakistan for the very first time during the festival. All of them have something unique, thought provoking and well-crafted about them to merit their selection in the Festival”, said Hasan Zaidi.Not only Hassan but the entire KaraFilm Society is overwhelmed with all the help and support they have received from Pakistan and beyond. No amount of thank you’s can be enough for the hundreds of individuals who have stepped forward to support the KaraFilm Festival through their donations, without any preconditions. Their vision of a creative Pakistan and belief in the festival is what gives all of us hope. And hope it is. The Seventh KaraFilm Festival will indeed be a celebration of colours and light. In dark times such as the ones prevailing in the country at present, the significance of colours and light becomes all the more substantial.