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This new documentary takes a fresh look at the work of Zia Mohyeddin and Faiz

This new documentary takes a fresh look at the work of Zia Mohyeddin and Faiz

Director Umar Riaz says that the feature-length 'Some Lover to Some Beloved' was quite the accidental project
Updated 09 Nov, 2017

A new documentary Some Lover to Some Beloved draws an unexpected parallel between the work of two of Pakistan’s literary giants — poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz and actor/writer/director Zia Mohyeddin.

"What is Zia Mohyeddin's story? What is Faiz Ahmed Faiz's story? How do they come together in work, in performance, in poetry, that's what you're going to find out...," says director Umar Riaz in an introductory video to the film.

The documentary, titled after Faiz’s poem of the same name, is special in that it takes root from rare footage of Mohyeddin’s annual readings on New Year’s eve in Lahore; what makes it doubly special is that the footage happens to be of an extraordinary performance.

"It happened completely by chance,” Umar tells Images. While he was in Lahore for the shoot of a film he was making for his Master's degree at Tisch School of Art at NYU, Umar decided to also film the recital while he was in town.

This was December 31, 2010 — "a very special year because it was the year of Faiz's 100th birthday." For the first time, Mohyeddin dedicated his show to the work of one author. In that reading, he correlated Faiz's poetry and prose together.

"What is Zia Mohyeddin's story? What is Faiz Ahmed Faiz's story? How do they come together in work, in performance, in poetry, that's what you're going to find out in the film," says Umar Riaz — Screengrab courtesy Umar Riaz
"What is Zia Mohyeddin's story? What is Faiz Ahmed Faiz's story? How do they come together in work, in performance, in poetry, that's what you're going to find out in the film," says Umar Riaz — Screengrab courtesy Umar Riaz

Umar didn’t have any specific plans for the footage and was pleasantly surprised when his classmates and professors back in New York showed a lot of interest in it. "I had subtitled it a little bit, but they wanted to know more about the story behind the poetry, what was Faiz's story, what was Zia sahab's story. That's how it started in 2010/2011."

Umar did a lot of other work in between, but slowly the footage became the basis of his thesis film for his Master's degree, for which he went on to shoot some more in Lahore and New York. He submitted a 75-minute version for his thesis but proceeded to work further on the film for a number of years.

To complete the film, Umar had launched a Kickstarter campaign for the film’s post-production. He managed to raise about 9,000 dollars, which is quite the feat given that he was repeatedly told that the film was non-commercial, had a niche audience. Then, fortuitously, a private investor came forward, offering to finance the entire cost of the film’s post-production. Umar didn’t need the Kickstarter funds anymore, but he says that people’s generosity was really moving.

"It’s one thing to buy a ticket, but it’s quite another thing to donate as generously as people have on this project. That really touched me. It gave me a lot of hope for potentially finding a distributor in Pakistan for this kind of film."

Zia Mohyeddin and the director Umar Riaz — Photo courtesy Umar Riaz
Zia Mohyeddin and the director Umar Riaz — Photo courtesy Umar Riaz

"[Faiz and Zia Mohyeddin] are big personalities, big stories — their stories are basically Pakistan's stories in many ways. What Faiz sahab lived through from government to government, military dictatorship to military dictatorship, what Zia sahab went through, living abroad for a number of years. But it's not just about Zia sahab or Faiz sahab — it's about our history, our culture, our poetry. We’ve covered a lot of ground in the film."

Umar expects the film to have its world premiere at an international film festival in the fall, after which he hopes to screen the film in Pakistan.

Comments

Luna Aug 03, 2017 11:18am
Sounds very interesting. Can't wait to watch it
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Saif zulfiqar Aug 03, 2017 12:13pm
Most of the nice, educated and honest elite have left us forever . Some could not breath during PML(N) government freely and left their motherland for good. May God take care of you wherever you are. I am one of you.
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Amer Rao Aug 03, 2017 03:29pm
I am big fan of both.
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Jamil Soomro, New York City Aug 03, 2017 04:23pm
I am a great fan of highly talented Mr.Zia Mohyeddin. He is a born Artist.
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Desh bandhu Chopra Aug 04, 2017 10:06am
Faiz is immortal. His poetry is next only to that of Dr. Iqbal. I still cherish my brief meeting with Faiz at Amritsar nearly forty years ago. Begum Faiz had an elegance about her which is rare these days.
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Jalaluddin s. hussain Nov 13, 2017 01:11am
I am looking forward to the screening of the film in Canada. Hopefully it would be somewhere in 2019. Maybe!
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