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overview
Karafilm postponed to 2009
The journey and the roadblocks of Pakistan's definitive film
festival
The much-awaited KaraFilm Festival that has been attracting the
cinema lovers since 2001 has been postponed again due to the instable
condition of our country. Instep talks to the Festival Director,
Hasan Zaidi, about the journey of Kara over the years and how
important it is in the larger scheme of things.
By Fatima
Zakir
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With the revival
of cinema happening in Pakistan, against all odds, the hope
of seeing good movies return to the big screen is finally
being realised. Along with the commercial fare, films like
Khuda Kay Liye and Ramchand Pakistani are also getting a chance
to see the light of day. As are off the wall films like the
slash fest Zibahkhana. One thing is for sure - we do want
alternative cinema to flourish in this country. A country's
cinema is made more vibrant when all kinds of people are making
all kinds of film and all kinds of people turn up to see them.
This is the great service film festivals do for a country
- they provide an opportunity for that to happen and are also
a catalyst that fuels the process. For the past eight years,
the Karafilm Society has been organising the Karafilm Festival
in Karachi with both national and international appeal that
does just that.
The 7th KaraFilm Festival was scheduled to take place in November
this year. Preparations were in the middle but ironically
terrorism strikes again in the form of Marriott bombings and
they had to postpone it for a second time. It took a lot of
time and hard work to make Kara recognizable in the national
and international arena and we can't afford to miss out such
a healthy entertainment.
"It
was supposed to be bigger this year as we had to incorporate
films of this year, last year and 2006 as well but we had
to call it off at the last moment because of the Marriott
blasts," says Hasan Zaidi, Festival Director Kara. "Of
course who is going to come to Pakistan after all the bombings
and political instability? Film festivals are made with international
participation and without that the whole idea of a film festival
is just killed."
That Kara has gotten cancelled now is a tragedy. Ever since
2001, when it was first held, the festival has become bigger
and better attracting international and local filmmakers and
giving cinema buffs a chance to interact with them. The festival
that has grown bigger and better every year culminated in
2006 with a showing of Omkara for which it's star Ajay Devgan
and ace director Vishal Bharadwaj had come down. But sadly,
last year we couldn't have the luxury to attend Karafilm Festival
due to the instable political situation caused by the tragic
death of Benazir Bhutto. And just when we thought we can enjoy
it this year… here comes the Marriott blast postponing
this year's Kara to February next year. The process that film
festivals start is wonderful, but when there is instability
of the kind there is in Pakistan, hurdles come up that stop
the process in its tracks.
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Film festivals internationally
are made possible because filmmakers from all over the world participate
in them. Take Cannes, Tribeca, New Delhi or Kansas International
Film Festival; all are big events and are made possible because
they showcase movies from all the continents of the world. Similarly
Kara, though not that big internationally, is gradually making its
place amongst international film festivals. And instead of supporting
Hasan Zaidi's efforts for this, the political situation comes out
as a hindrance to its success. The event that should have gotten
bigger with time (and it was actually) is falling prey to the terrible
state of our country.
The Karafilm Festival started
out at a time when there was no scope of telefilms in Pakistan only
because they didn't generate enough revenue. "Of course, the
filmmakers needed a place to put up their movies and with Kara; we
provided them their much needed platform," says Hasan Zaidi who
knows what it's like to be a filmmaker without a platform. He made
a film Raat Chali Hai Jhoom Ke that he had to arrange a private screening
for and then toured with it to various film festivals around the world
in the early 2000s. It was after this exercise that Karafilm was launched
in 2001. And over the years, Hasan Zaidi has made it a hub for filmmakers
to come together. |
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Hasan Zaidi has also been credited to introduce international filmmakers
and actors in our country. He was the first one to start the process
of bringing in international stars at a time when it was a taboo,
well at least, those from across the border definitely were. Nandita
Das came along with director Jagmohan Mundhra to showcase her film
Bhawandar. It was an art film, but even so, was a big draw at Karafilm
because it was possibly the first time in years that an Indian film
was publicly screened with its star present. And then, Hasan brought
in Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt to Karachi with her film Paap after which
Mahesh Bhatt kept on coming to Kara every year, having taken a shine
to this country because his mother was Muslim and he felt an affinity
with the culture here.
Mahesh
Bhatt called himself India's ambassador for Karafilm Festival and
he was right in saying so. He had the World Premieres of three of
his films - Paap, Rog and Holiday - at Kara, which was not a piece
of cake as far as the Pakistani government policies were concerned
at that time. But the love for Bollywood movies in Pakistan and
the vision of showing good movies irrespective of their nationality
overpowered all the pressures. To this, Mahesh Bhatt was very grateful
to Kara organisers, "The encouraging response expected from
our movies can be gauged from the fact that despite the objections
of Pakistan Censor Board to screening of Indian films at the festival,
the festival organisers stood their ground and went ahead with the
screening," he said at an interview given in India after the
Karafilm Festival here.
It's words like these spoken about celecbrities that build reputations
and with Nandita Das and Mahesh Bhatt vouching for Karafilm, stars
like Ajay Devgan (who had starred in Mahesh Bhatt's excellent Zakhm)
turned up. Also, needless to say that once Karafilm broke the taboo
of Indian films being screened in Pakistan timed with the one sworn
foes deciding to turn friendlier politically, it was only a matter
of time before Indian films were screened here. |
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If Hasan Zaidi had succumbed to the government's pressure then we
wouldn't have had made our stars into icons. Remember Atif Aslam's
success story? It all started with his song 'Woh Lamhay' being featured
in Mahesh Bhatt's Zeher after which Atif became an even bigger star
in India than he was in Pakistan. And, now Atif has 'Tere Bin', 'Pehli
Nazar' and 'Bakhuda' to his credit - all superhit songs from Bollywood.
Mahesh
Bhatt also took actress Meera to India and gave her the first Bollywood
break, Nazar followed by Kasak. She might not have made it big in
India but still has projects in hand. One of her upcoming projects
is another Mahesh Bhatt production Shohrat - The Dark Side of Fame
and the upcoming Jhansi Ki Rani. Bhatt had first met Meera at the
Karafilm Festival.
This how the much needed interaction and exchange of talent between
the two countries started and, consciously or unconsciously, Hasan
Zaidi has played a major role in it.
"It wasn't that easy too as we had to do a lot of advocacy and
lobby with the government to make them realise it will help our industry
in the long run more than it will benefit Bollywood," says Hasan.
"And, that's when Kara became more important because it was not
just bringing in international talent here to showcase their work
but was also taking our stars to their country for wider exposure
and greater opportunities."
To make Kara stand in the line of international film festivals, Hasan
Zaidi keeps going to different countries to see how such festivals
are run successfully. And, no matter how much he learns from them
what Hasan says can't be ignored is that the backbone of film festivals
internationally is sponsorship!
"They are heavily sponsored by the government because their authorities
take the film industry seriously," shares Hasan. "The Dubai
International Film Festival started two years later than ours and
now has a 2 million dollar budget. They are far ahead of us even after
starting off late.
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"Don't
even go to Dubai and take the neighbouring country. The Delhi Film
Festival is government sponsored and gives away 10 million rupees
for prizes only. On the contrary, we have to rely on just our supporters
for financial help," Hasan tells Instep.
Seeing
the stability and credibility of Karafilm festivals it won more
and more sponsors through the passage of time. What started off
as a Kodak sponsorship program got Marriott, TCS, DHL, Cinepax,
and different TV channels like Geo and Aaj helping out as media
partners over the years. But it was during the last Kara when Mobilink
stepped in as their main sponsors and helped Kara save enough money
to establish their own office. Before that, they operated its functioning
from Hasan Zaidi's home.
Everything for a film festival is here. With Indian films coming
in more frequently and international blockbusters like the Dark
Knight playing in our cinemas, and local film talent also cropping
up slowly, Karafilm could be a stronger platform than ever. It can
also be an agent of change, catalysing an industry, creating employment
opportunities and building much needed bridges with other forums
internationally. Karafilm could also cast a spotlight on the positive
side of Pakistan and generate international interest in our country
that is much maligned in the foreign press. But for that it needs
to happen. Now, that the tentative date is for February next year,
one hope that the time is conducive for the show to go on and to
go on magnificently.
KARA Timeline
1st Kara: See, hear, feel
Year: 2001
Duration: 3 days
People attended: 2.500
Some 35 films were screened at Alliance Francaise that included
the World Premiere of Bawander. Most of the films were of the South
Asian origin.
Very few foreign delegates and filmmakers were able to attend the
first KaraFilm festival Jagmohan Mundhra, Nandita Das, Siddharth
Anand Kumar and Ankur Tewari. Nandita lost Best Actress to Uzma
Gilani.
2nd
Kara:
The Rebirth of Imagination
Year: 2002
Duration: 8 days
People attended: 7,000
This was the time when the Afghan war was the main concern world over,
especially affecting our country. A major bombings occurred in Karachi
- at the Marriott and US Consulate. With this, the situation between
India and Pakistan became tensed and soldiers took position at their
respective borders. |
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Because of the political
situation, they switched the venue to Pakistan Institute of International
Affairs (PIIA) as Alliance was under strict security. In 2002 year,
Kara wasn't as big as it was expected to be with no Indian delegates
and few international filmmakers but still it managed to pull through
an 8-day event.
Around 70 films featured in the 2002 KARA that includes the premiere
of A Small Life directed by New Zealand's director Micheal Heath.
Though this Kara was low on international delegates it had Micheal
Heath attending the festival despite of all the instability.
The KaraFilm Festival didn't call off the show despite the tense
political situation but then it had just started and was striving
to make a mark. Whereas, currently Kara can't go down after going
up so high with its 6th coming.
3rd Kara: Dekh Magar
Pyaar Se
Year: 2003
Duration: 10 days
People attended: 15,000
Over 80 films were showcased in 2003. This year Kara also had the
world premiere of Pooja Bhatt's Paap. The number of venues also
increased to two with an addition of Cineplex alongside PIIA. Some
big international movies that were presented were Khamosh Pani,
In This World, Matir Moina and Zakhm. The foreign delegates and
filmmakers who attended the festival were Mahesh Bhatt, Pooja Bhatt,
Elahe Hiptoola, Sabiha Sumar, Catherine and Tareque Masud and Anand
Patwardhan. This was when Meera first met Mahesh Bhatt. And the
Indian contingent ensured that Kara got bigger than ever. So what
if Pooja Bhatt's Paap was a bad film? It still ran house full...
4th Kara:
Dharakta Hai Yeh Dil
Year: 2004
Duration: 10 days
People attended: nearly 15,000
Over 100 films from over 18 countries were screened at the Pakistan
Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) Auditorium. .
The Festival marked the World Premieres of Pooja Bhatt's Rog and
Vinta Nanda's White Noise, at least two documentaries Crossing the
Lines and The Forgotten Song as well as many shorts.
The foreign delegates and filmmakers who visited in 2004 were Om
Puri, Irrfan Khan, Mahesh Bhatt, Pooja Bhatt, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad,
Rakesh Sharma, Elahe Hiptoola, Vinta Nanda, Mohanjit Singh, Ankur
Tewari, Shanab Alam, Priti Chandriani, Rani Dey Burra, Alice Stilgoe
and Alina Mirza. The Karafilm brand was gaining strength.
5th KARA:
Sab Se Karara
Year: 2005
Duration: 10 days
People attended: 40, 000
Over 150 shorts, documentaries and features marked the success of
5th KaraFilm Festival. As a result, the movies were screened at
three separate venues - PIIA, Alliance Francaise and Iqra University.
Amongst the 150 films, Cherry on Top, Holiday and Dubai Return had
their world premieres at Kara while Kisna, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin
Mara, Al-Ghazali - The Alchemist of Happiness and Shooting Dogs
were also screened.
The foreign delegates and filmmakers who were there to support their
films make up a long list of names including Subhash Ghai, Anupam
Kher, Pooja Bhatt, Dino Morea, Sudhir Mishra, Aditya Basu Acharya,
Samina Mishra, Avinash Deshpande, Rakesh Sharma, Daksha Bani-Etemad,
Priti Chandriani and etc.
And that's not all! This was the first year Kara had invited a chief
guest at any of their functions for the last five years. And it
was none other than former President Pervaiz Musharraf and his wife
Sehba Musharraf.
6th KARA:
Tamanna Ka Chhata Qadam
Year: 2006
Duration: 10 days
People attended: 50,000-60,000
There were a grand total of over 170 films being screened, including
over 40 features, over 30 documentaries and over 95 shorts. The
venues for 2006 Kara festival were PIIA and Arts Council.
Some of the acclaimed movies showcased were Children of Men, Hope
And A Little Sugar, Infinite Justice, Khosla Ka Ghosla, The Incredibles,
Man Push Cart, and Omkara.
The foreign actors and filmmakers who visited Pakistan for Kara
were Ajay Devgan, Vishal Bharadwaj, Kumar Mangat, Robin Bhatt, Jamil
Dehalvi, Mukesh Bhatt, Mohit Suri, Catherine Masud, Jahar Kanungo,
Jaideep Sahni, Ruchi Narayan, Tanuja Chandra, Dhruv Dhawan, Shyamal
Kumar Karmakar, Ahmed Muztaba Zamal, Dylan Grey, Reema Borah, Alan
Krita Shrivastava, Surendra Hiwarale, Raza Malal and Hammad Khan
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