The Citizens Foundation (UK) Film Night

The Citizens Foundation (UK) and The Centre for the Study of Pakistan and SOAS South Asia Institute are hosting a film night to explore current issues facing Pakistan through the medium of documentary film. The evening will see the screening of two short documentaries each containing a unique perspective on modern day Pakistan. The film screenings will be followed by a Q&A with both film directors.

The first documentary, Aatif Nawaz’s ‘Postcards from Lahore’ follows a young British man's journey to the place of his origins: Lahore, Pakistan. His intention is to recreate the only mementos of his childhood trip: 6 picturesque photographs that resemble postcards. On his journey, he visits Lahore's historic sites and meets the locals, learning of how terrorism and a decline in international relations have resulted in this beautiful city being under-appreciated. The documentary won an Honourable Mention Laural at the Los Angeles Movie Awards. The film also holds a distinction of being the only Pakistani film to be screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

The second documentary, Anca Dimofte’s, ‘Madam Kazmi and the drivers’ tells the story of the first woman taxi driver in Pakistan, her day-to-day encounters and the realities surrounding them. Zahida Kazmi started to work as a taxi driver in Islamabad in 1992, and she is still the only woman who holds a license to drive a cab in Pakistan. The documentary depicts the complex layers of her personality as she successively becomes a woman, a taxi driver, a leader, a friend, a mother and even a ‘man’. Moreover, the film goes further than portraying the dynamics of a woman evolving in a patriarchal society and shows how Madam Kazmi exploits her current visibility for control and empowerment.

All proceeds from the evening will be donated to The Citizens Foundation’s (TCF) distinctive work in Pakistan. The Citizens Foundation (UK) is a UK registered charity (England & Wales: 1087864) raising funds and awareness for Pakistan’s leading education charity for underprivileged children - The Citizens Foundation (TCF). TCF builds and professionally manages the largest network of non-governmental schools in Pakistan, offering high quality education at low cost to the most marginalised communities.