Description

One evening in upper-middle-class Karachi, a forty-year-old man maneuvers between the deceptive allure of his social scene, and the reality he has at home…

Director's Bio

I worked as a professional actor in Karachi during the early-to-mid nineties, performing lead roles in several major stage and television productions in Pakistan. In 2008, I co-founded the ‘Kinky Fish Theatre Company’ in London, England and played Prospero in an Artaudian production of the Tempest which ran commercially for 3 nights at London’s Candid Arts Centre in 2009. I left England for Pakistan that year, but Kinky Fish is still performing. I took acting courses during my undergraduate degree at Colby College in Maine, USA in 1989, at the City Academy, in London UK in 2007, at an Acting Master Course with Jenny Buckman, Head of Acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, in London in 2008, and an advanced acting course in Karachi in 2011 with Sabiha Sumar (Golden Leopard for Best Director at the Festival del Locarno, 2002).

I started Cinema Pure in Karachi, in 2013, as an independent platform for Pakistani film-professionals to come together from time to time, as a collective, to work on projects that are not commercially motivated. The platform aims to (1) demonstrate that strong cinema can be produced on a limited budget, and (2) to explore the human experience with a focus on the narrative-power of light, movement and sound in the frame, rather than on expensive film technology.

Mailay is the second film made under the Cinema Pure banner, and is my first film for public release.

Preceded By

1. Watch Trailer Watch Trailer

   Mantra

   Nicholas Kharkongor / Feature Competition / India / 2016 / 90 mins

   Kapil Kapoor, founded an iconic snack brand during the License Raj in India. Circa 2004, India is in throes of globalization and he is fighting a losing battle against a multinational that has taken over the market. Besides his company, he is desperately trying to save his wife and children who are battling crises of their own. For Kapil to hold onto things that are dear to him professionally and personally, he must confront and overcome demons of his own. Set in the midst of a nationwide India Shining campaign, Mantra tells the story of a family and its travails, and a sprawling and changing rapidly India.

   Precedes: Riff Raff

   ---

Website Copyright © SAIFF 2016 & Gala Festival Engine