Zara, a schoolgirl in Karachi (Pakistan), shares a sensual dance video with her virtual boyfriend, who then blackmails her. Caught between his manipulative behaviour and the desire to experience love on her own terms, Zara searches for the strength to reject the confines of a patriarchal society.
LFW22 | Shorts Competition
Tuesday 6 December 2022
Preview
MULAQAT
SANDSTORM
Directed by Seemab Gul
Pakistan | Drama | 2021 | 19 min
Synopsis
Credits
Director: Seemab Gul
Script: Seemab Gul
Screenplay: Seemab Gul
Director of Photography: Alberto Balazs
Producers: Abid Aziz Merchant
Production: Sanat Initiative (Pakistan)
Executive producers: Mehnaz Diwan, Jemima Khan
Distribution: Sayonara Film (Elenfant Distribution)
Executive production: Instinct Productions (UK)
General Organization: Ammad Akbar
Editing: Raluca Petre, Seemab Gul
Sound: Faiz Zaidi
Sound Designer: Andrej Bako
Script supervisor: Wajeeha Mukhtar
Scenography: Hira Mansoor
Costumes: Aafreen Shahab
Makeup: Anjum Chippa
Cast & role: Parizae Fatima (Zara), Hamza Mushtaq (Omar), Ayesha Shoaib Ahmed, Nabila Khan, Aun Ali Saleem, Masuma Halai Khwaja, Qasim Ali
Original Soundtrack: Hollie Buhagiar, Baluji Shrivastav
feature film Uyra: The Rising Forest
Date
Venue
39-41 Parke Street
London WC2B 5PQ
Other Festival Selections
Sundance Film Festival
About the Director
Director Statement
This coming-of-age story navigates the tricky terrain of internet dating in a conservative Muslim society. The film questions the objectification of the female body and its relationship to honour in Pakistani culture. Focusing on female agency, this personal and political film dramatises the desire to gain freedom from harsh societal constraints.