Northwest Film Forum, October 6th, 4pm
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The Learning Alliance
9 mins || Urdu || Pakistan || 2016
Collecting garbage for earning and paying their fees for school. Three brothers who are changing their future by studying and at the same time selling garbage in Lahore, Pakistan. The Learning Alliance is a portrait of children with dreams and their struggle towards achieving it.
Director’s Bio: After graduating in film production, Umar started producing documentaries and short films which have been screened in many reputable film festivals around the globe. Umar was the part of Sesame Street production in Pakistan (A project by USAID). He is also curating and programming film festivals in Lahore. The Learning Alliance is his latest documentary.
2. Dreams
9 mins || Tamil || India || 2017
A paper boy wants to invite Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam to his school annual day event. Kalam Sir accepts the invitation too. What happens next is the rest of the short film.
Director’s Bio: Athithya Kanagarajan is from Cuddalore, Tamilnadu. He is a B. Tech Information Technology graduate from Anna University, Chennai. He has made five short films so far. He was a part of the writing team of two Tamil feature films, of which one is under production.
3. The Waterfall
20 mins || English || India || 2016
The Waterfall traces the evolution of a young city boy, as he comes to appreciate the value of the environment and think critically about climate change and development.
Director’s Bio: Lipika Singh Darai is a filmmaker based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. An alumnus of the Film & Television Institute of India, she specialized in film sound recording and is also an avid film editor. She has won four National Film Awards (India) in various capacities. Her films are characterized by a strong personal narrative style. Her work has been shown in various international and national film festivals. She is currently making a feature length documentary on the puppeteer communities of Odisha, produced by Films Division, India.
4. Nanu Aur Main( Grandpa And I)
22 mins || Urdu || Pakistan || 2018
After the death of her parents, Erum (Saboor Ali) goes on to spend her childhood with her loving grandfather (Qavi Khan). The two live happily together until it is time for Erum to pursue studies abroad, and the two bid farewell to each other with heavy hearts, promising to keep in touch through letters. Erum’s life abroad moves further and further away from her grandfather, until she receives a letter from him one day, and realizes it is time for grandfather’s little sparrow to return to her nest.
Director’s Bio: Ali Sohail Jaura was born in 1994 in Karachi, Pakistan. He started his film-making education by joining Iqra University, Pakistan in 2012 in undergraduate Film & TV program. His debut short film Prohibited won numerous International awards around the globe in 2015. His recent achievement is International award winning travel film Arz e Pakistan which has already bagged 6 International awards in India, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Spain and Latvia. The film has been screened in several International Tourism Film Festivals during the year 2017.